Speed Legend Infinite - Akiyama Chronicles (completed with epilogues)

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Speed Legend Infinite
Akiyama Chronicles​

Disclaimer: I don't own anything in this fanfic, or rather, series. All credit goes to MyogiWarrior34. I am here only to let you guys know of this series, and to spread its popularity here.

- Introduction -

1. What is it all about?

It's a story I've made that was inspired by the anime Initial D and its arcade version. Wangan Midnight Maximum Tune has this share as well. At first, I never thought that MT is that challenging until I gave it a try myself... Sad to say, I was engrossed in the atmosphere and ended up being a late regular of the arcade series, starting and currently finishing WMMT2. Characters of my original series: Speed Legend are mostly high school students and regulars of the street racing side of Japan. It somewhat tells of a story of life as well and what it really means to pursue what you really want in life. In here, the lead character really wants to be a street racer; he doubted in doing it and lets it be just another by-standing part of his life until he gave it a try and realized that it wasn't easy. (MyogiWarrior34)

2. Who are the characters?

The original series' main character is named Tomogashi Kitsumoro; first appeared at 17 years old, 3rd year high school student. From childhood, he was a complete car fanatic and race fan of the touge scene. When he started racing on his own in his NISSAN SILVIA CS14, he started to realize his undeveloped, unrealized talent in racing that bloom at a pace that the regulars of the touge scene didn't expect - especially from somebody who recently got his license. He has no secret training whatsoever and just lets his talent bloom day by day until he became well known in his so-called dream world. He befriended, faced, raced and rivaled quite a group of street racers also of the touge scene... etc. etc.

But here in this story, Tomo is NOT the lead character. This time, it's his rival from my Volume 14 R series, Daiki Akiyama. The story will revolve around Daiki akiyama's life as a tokyo shutoku racer, why he became one, and why he is a well known, nationwide racer of Japan. (MyogiWarrior34)

3. What's the difference with the original series?

The original Speed Legend Series, as I've said is more so based in the touge/Kaido/mountain racing scene whereas this will have more focus on the Wangan Highways. The lead character, Daiki, is a more mature racer than Tomogashi. The rest, will follow (MyogiWarrior34)

4. Any brief list of characters of this series?

In fact, there is! Here's the Japanese Line up

Daiki Akiyama - Nissan Fairlady Z Nismo street version (Z33)
Seiji Tsuchiya - Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution 8 MR (CT9A VIII)
Shimizu Ohyama - Nissan R390 GT-1 Road car (N390)
Hiroya Kagami - Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution 6 (CP9A VI)
Kazuhiko Aizawa - Mazda FD3S RX-7 type R Bathurst (FD3S VI)
Kitana Tioseco - Lamborghini Diablo SV
Genjuro Densetsu - Mitsubishi Eclipse GSX 94'

But there's also the Foreign Line up (no family names; and still thinking of some)

"Colt" - Nissan Skyline GT-R (BCNR33)
Santana Swarovski - RUF CTR Yellow Bird (930)
Chloe - Porsche Boxster (RUF edition)
"Raven" - Subaru Legacy Blitzen (BE5)
Karl Schneider - BMW M3 CLS (E46)

5. Why at GTPlanet.net?

It was I who thought of the idea of bringing this here. I wanted to show my support of this series and many of you like reading stories so here I am, presenting this very series to you. (uMadson?)

6. Will you update this on a daily basis?

This part of the saga is already complete and there's the second one called the Tsuchiya Chronicles. I'll be posting like 5-7 chapters a day to catch up while not giving you a load to read. (uMadson?)

7. Why here? Why not in the GT5 Race Reports section?

I placed this here for the sake of relevance; these chapters are done in GT4 while the new ones are done in GT5. The Tsuchiya Chronicles will appear at the GT5 Race Reports section. (uMadson?)

Don't forget to subscribe to MyogiWarrior34 and add MyogiWarrior34 on PSN if you want to help him with race scenes; photo shoots, and stuff.

- Index -

Chapter 1: Prelude
Chapter 2: The Dreamer
Chapter 3: Uninterested Champion
Chapter 4: Revenge: Futility's Falter
Chapter 5: Before the Night Ends
Chapter 6: First Impressions
Chapter 7: Priorities
Chapter 8: Golden Age
Chapter 9: A Sense of Triumph
Chapter 10: Knowledge of the Heart
Chapter 11: Untimely Rendezvous
Chapter 12: Grand Evolution!!!!
Chapter 13: A State of Profession
Chapter 14: Persistence
Chapter 15: From Rivalries to Friendships
Chapter 16: Crossing Boundaries
Chapter 17: Legends
Chapter 18: A Forever Love Lost
Chapter 19: More Than Love
Chapter 20: Goodbye My Love, Goodbye My Savior
Chapter 21: Silverblood
Chapter 22: True Blood
Chapter 23: Candidates of Turmoil
Chapter 24: Declaration of War on One's Self
Chapter 25: The Ultimate Battle
Chapter 26: The Road to a Living Legend
Chapter 27: A Prince Immortalized

EPILOGUE: A new mark in the world of Auto Racing

Part 1: Introduction
Part 2: Sidelines
Part 3: Wishes
Part 4: Reality Shrouded in Blood
Part 5: A moment to forget it all…
Part 6: Preparation for a Farewell
Part 7: A Sacrifice for a Wish to be Fulfilled

COMING SOON IN GT5 SECTION: Speed Legend Infinite - Tsuchiya Chronicles
 
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- Chapter 1: Prelude -

Tokyo. The East's New York. A City full of lights. Numerous attractions of this city kept it alive such as the Tokyo Tower, the Skylines, and all the lights shimmering it. There is one thing that was infamous among tourists and commoners which only a few appreciate - the beauty of the Tokyo Metropolitan Highways, also known as the Wangan, as named by a few.

Drivers young and old, with automobiles that possess colossal power, go through these highways to find the ultimate form of speed. They want to see the other side of this world - where the wangan would take them. Many falter and perished attempting this. Only a chosen few have claimed victory.

Cars of the elite; cars of the balanced one, cars of unexpected performance... all kinds appear on the Wangan. Three forgotten legends still roam around these highways - The blue 240Z, the Black 930, and the siver KPCG10. As old as they come, these vehicles were targeted and feared by many. The new generation kept growing as these kept fading; yet they still show their immense superiority on the road. It didn't stop, however, the vast growing abilities of the youth generation.

New cars, new faces and new styles kept appearing. Countless however retired, still countless more arrived on the scene. As of this night; the night of April 4th, a new legend was born. Rumors have spread every single day about a silver Nissan 350Z roaming about the wangan in speeds as high as the legends. 'Who ever knew the current generation had this much talent.' One of the regulars wondered.

Every night, the Silver 350Z roams about the wangan highways in perfect form. Many have challenged this mysterious racer and all of them failed to defeat it. Truly, a supreme 'hashirya' as many would say. Who is this person? He is still yet to be known.

An 18 year old boy named Shin Ayamazaki; still in high school, in his purple striped Mazda RX-8 type S, has just raced someone with a vehicle such as his - a black one with a Mazdaspeed body kit. His car isn't his yet; he just made a deal with the owner that it would be his if he mastered it. For 3 months, he drove it and is close to mastering the car. "At this rate, my RX-8 would definitely be mine for good!" He yells as he shifts the car from gear 4 to 5 out of a right corner, entering the new belt line. Reaching speeds of 296 km/h constant, he could feel the air entering his car, letting it touch his face.
"So this is what it feels like. I can't wait to share this with my pals back at school." he muttered. Suddenly, he could feel a new car coming close to the RX-8. "Another challenger? Hmm... I already got 14 wins as of 3 months ago, if I nail this one... I could proudly tell this to this 8's owner and he'd have to hand it over to me!"

The unknown car, with its lights beamed on at the RX-8, tailgates it waiting for an answer. When Shin shifts gears and a ball of fire came out of the exhaust, the challenger knew he accepted it. 'Another person to blow off my inner steam. Hey, thanks...' he thought. Shin slaloms around the passenger cars flawlessly hoping that he'd leave the mysterious driver for good. At a pace of 307 km/h this time, he glances at his rear view mirror while driving on a no-traffic lane. "Did I do it?" As soon as Shin glances back on the Road a Silver 350Z appears right in front of him causing him to forcibly brake. "Oh Shi-!" He shouted in surprise. The RX-8 lost control during braking and Shin had no choice but to stick his foot on the brake pedal until his car halts.

A huge screech echoes around the New Belt line's tunnel. He felt the car jolt to a stop. From the inside lane, 6 lanes away, he stopped at the middle of the tunnel at the outside lane, close to the tunnel wall. "What a close call." The tires lets off some steam and Shin steps out of his car. "I guess... I am not cut out to drive you..." he softly spoke to the RX-8, with its hazard lights on.

As for the Silver Z, the driver; who had his face covered with the shadows all except his mouth, made a pout saying 'hmph... not even worth the time... that kid disappointed me.' he said as he speeds down the rest of the Wangan at 320 km/h. Far away, there is a silver Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution 8 MR which had a stock carbon hood as an exterior upgrade. Cruising at 317 km/h, he is confident enough to take on any driver. In his whole career, he boasts of his 42-0 victory. A man in his 20's he is. His name? Seiji Tsuchiya. He is one of the very well known drivers of the youth generation - one of the prime racers at that. 500 meters away, he could sense another car coming at him, targeting him. "Another one?" He uttered. The Z flashes its lights again. "You ask for it." Seiji said as he downshifts from gear 5 to 4 and accelerates away. 'By how this Evo accelerates... he's worthy...' the Z driver uttered.

Entering the C1, the drivers face the dividers, followed by an S curve, then another divider. The Evo enters the outside while the Z enters the inside divider coming out side by side. "U-What!?" Seiji whispered in shock. It didn't stop his driving style though. He Cuts in on the inside hoping to reach the apex. The Z driver noticed this and decelerated to avoid a collision.

Seiji induces his car to an inertial drift, nearly hitting the outside wall of the S curve's exit and passes through the inside divider. the Z clings on at the same spot, increasing in pace. A long stretch of straight road is in front of them and the Evo has reached 319 km/h. Unknown to Seiji, the Z is making a classic move on him - the slipstream. The Z passed his maximum speed and is ready to overtake.

"I-Impossible" Seiji uttered. "Is this Z that Aerodynamic? It looks stock for crying out loud. How could it be this fast!? Judging by how the car increases in pace, the body weight is still heavier compared to my Evo 8." When the Z had its front bumper 8 inches away from the rear bumper of the Evolution, the Z swerved to the right. Coming downhill at a side by side pace, the Evo and Z blasts through traffic, without one making a desperation attack at the other. They still take the straight road and neither driver would give in until their tachometers reach the red zone. Who would take the lead until their engines say so?

-------

EDIT: Apparently, I skipped something. Sadly, the text form of this is not available. MyogiWarrior34 was doing this in "both comic and text" but I think this is the only chapter with a comic. So here's the continuation of this, proceed to Chapter 2 after the following images.

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- Chapter 2: The Dreamer -

The person requesting to be part of the S class program happens to be a 14 year old girl. Her clothing shows that she's somewhat the spunky character type of person. Her name? Kitana Tioseco. She has heard stories of the Akiyama Racing School where the country's greatest drivers trained and furnished their skills; this aroused her interest and made the decision to be part of the school itself. Family background? Well, she's fortunately rich at that. Her mother is a car journalist and Television personality on the same field and her father is the president of a huge oil company that is often involved in the professional racing league as a sponsor and provider. In short, Kitana's family is well vexed in the automotive world.

Daiki looks at her face intimately. Though young, Kitana's heart is racing for some reason; beating faster and faster every second. Well, no girl, no matter how old - as long as they understand the element of love and romance, could resist Daiki's good looks and charm. Daiki just gave her a stone face while looking at her shiver every other moment. "Go home." he seriously directed to Kitana. Hearing those two words slightly made Kitana collapse. "Why?" She reasoned. She is desperate to learn and she's just being dumped at her first try. "You're not ready. I could tell by your eyes." "Liar. That isn't true. It is my destiny to be a good driver." Kitana reasoned. "Just a good driver? Then you're in the wrong place, my dear." Daiki commissioned. "Oh really?" Kitana said in an ironic tone. "I even brought MY car here." She proudly said. "Please come with me, Daiki-sama. It might change your point of view of me." Kitana heads for the door and frolics over to her car.

When Daiki stepped out of the door into the bright afternoon light, a metalic coated supercar greets him at the door. "Tadaah!" Kitana welcomed as she directs Daiki's attention to the supercar. "It's a-" Kitana's words were cut short when Daiki had a very good idea of what the car is. "A Lamborghini Diablo SV, made in 1999, rear wheel wheel drive, fuel injected, 589 horsepower V12 vertical type engine placed at the rear, could go from 0 to 60 in slightly less than 4 seconds and coated in a bright rouge red metallic shade. Is this it?" Kitana couldn't say a word. She just spoke in her mind "Wow. The rumors are true. Daiki Akiyama is like a living car encyclopedia. He's amazing; he figured out the specs of a rare car such as this by just looking at it... he even figured out that mom raised the power of the car by 14 horsepower... amazing... simply amazing..." She just gave a huge gleaming smile at Daiki.

"Where did you get this car? Don't tell me it is illegally shipped here..." Daiki asked. "Of course not. Why would I ever-" Kitana complained. "Do you know how to drive? Even the basics?" Daiki asked. "Of course!!" Kitana proudly answered with conviction. "How many days have you drived it..." "A-" She couldn't answer. In fact, she just drove the Diablo right now. She couldn't lie to him because it would be very obvious because of her current age.

One of Daiki's employees called out to him saying that there's a small commotion at the track. Kitana wondered what it is all about; she tried to eavesdrop at the conversation but failed to hear anything from them. When they stopped mumbling amongst each other, "Kitana." Daiki directed to call her attention. "Yes?" She eagerly answered. "Your keys." "Here!" She immediately showed it in front of Daiki's face. "Thank you." He said as he snatched it off her young little hands. "Eh?" "This is to ensure you don't anything stupid to your car while I am gone. Stay in my office for the moment." Daiki said as he walked away.

Kitana stood there, petrified, in shock as to what just happened. She was double crossed for some reason. "No fair. Like I would do something stupid with my own car." She said with a pouting face. She fixed up her loose black & red necktie and normally walked to Daiki's office.

Meanwhile... at the Wangan at this early time...

A White Nissan Skyline GT-R R34 N1 Spec blisters down the C1 straightway, being chased by a blue custom body kitted RX-7 FD3S. Down the long straightway, the GT-R gains ground. Down a chicane and an S curve, the tides turned as the RX-7 brings the gap down to a bumper to bumper status once again. The GT-R driver never budged, gritted, nor sweated in his seat; neither did the FD driver. Both drivers gained ground as they enter a junction leading to the long Tokyo straightway known as the Wangan Line. The FD enters the slipstream as the GT-R exits the hairpin. Passing the 243 km/h mark, the FD closes in to the GT-R.

At the fork junction ahead, the FD is about to overtake as it positions itself at the left side of the white R34. The lights of the Wangan line tunnel is reflected on the FD driver's sunglasses thus unable to see who the driver was. As for the GT-R driver, he had his face hidden in the shade making it hard to tell who he is either. The only thing revealing about himself is his golden hair.

When the FD's front is already halfway of the GT-R's side, the GT-R turned right with its hazard lights on. The FD failed to beat the white Skyline. "Damn... next time... next time..." the FD driver said as he turns left down the Shinjuku exit. He flips open the hazard lights and lowers his speed as he drives down the parking area. A silver Evolution 8 MR with a carbon hood sits at the middle of the parking area; it seems it is waiting for him to park as well. Its driver walks over telling him to park right next to his Evo.

Back at The Akiyama Racing School...

Kitana sits idly at Daiki's office. Getting too angst in her seat, she stands up and looks around. There is nothing in Daiki's shelves but books on mechanics, automobiles, and business management. There's a picture of him with his father and mother who are both overseas. At one corner, there is a scaled model kit of one of Daiki's pride and joy cars - his Nissan 350Z painted the same color as his own. She looks at it up close and admires it.

The door clicked suddenly and Kitana fizzled & she starts to panic. Turning left and right not knowing where to go but the seat and she immediately sat when Daiki's half body was in view. "H-h-hi...eh heh..." She said with a scared smile. "Did you mess something up while I was away...?" Daiki asked. "Um-n-n-n-no-no-no! I didn't do anything..." "That's what I thought you said..." He said as he fixed up the papers at his desk. "Here." He said as he tossed a registration sheet at Kitana. "What's this?" "Write your name, personal data, contact details on it." Her heart starts to race again. "So... you're accepting me...?"

"Having a car such as that literally changed my mind for the better. You could have the potential, little girl. But I won't be going soft on you just because you're the youngest in the group. There will be a couple of your 'classmates' who want to be better than you so expect egoistic attitudes on your way."

"T-t-thank you very much sir Akiyama." She courteously thanked. "Please, please. Call me Daiki from now on. You'll have to stay after class though. Since you missed a quarter of our program's curriculum, you need to take one-on-one sessions with me for the next month or two." Kitana could not say a word again. The only words lingering on her mind are one-on-one... Her emotions are running wild again with excitement. A one on one session with THE Daiki Akiyama could be the best that has ever happened to Kitana's life.

-4:45 p.m.-

Another session has ended. Daiki stretches his arms up high and leans on his 350Z. One of his colleagues, Naoko Takahashi, asked him a question. "Off to the Wangan again tonight?" She asked. "Not tonight. Now probably." "What made you change your 'schedule'?" "Oh, just another wannabe applicant starting at a very young age to be in the S program." Daiki answered. "Another weight on your shoulder it seems... Here." Naoko hands to Daiki over a card. "What's this for?" "Call me one time if you are free during my day off. I want to show you how my own car runs." She said with a smile directing it to Daiki. "Hmph." Daiki snickers. "I'll be looking forward to it." He said as he boards his car. Turning the ignition on, and lowering the e-brake, he drives to the Wangan again to 'relax' his mind once more.

He did a few modifications this time on his 350Z. He installed an Aero kit for personal and aerodynamic reasons. He is testing out which body tune would make him faster through corners. While down the Wangan line, where the blue FD and white GT-R raced an hour ago, he could sense a couple of wangan racers out on the streets. A black Toyota Supra JZA80 and a red Nissan Skyline BNR32. Although it is daytime, they flashed their lights at Daiki. Daiki just stared at them from the side mirror and then looked out on the road. The Supra and R32 went to both his sides to taunt him. Looking at the situation... Daiki slowly deepens his press on the accelerator.
 
- Chapter 3: Uninterested Champion -

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Daiki utters "hmm? Do they want a battle?" Still stirring up his curiosity, he continues to stay at the vision of the 2 incoming cars:
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These two claim to be the top regulars around the Wangan during the day.
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The GT-R driver tells his friend in the JZA "That Z... wanna race him? It does look like a stag if you ask me..." The Supra driver gives a huge grin and says "Alright. I'll take him on. This ought to be interesting enough. I never see too many Z's around Tokyo's highways... what would make this Z any different?" "Good point there. I'll stray off for a while. Tell me how the battle goes when you reach the parking area, okay?"
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The GT-R strays behind the Supra and...
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Through a corner...
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Suddenly...
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The Supra overtakes the Z with ease and attempts to outrun it. There's something odd though...
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"W...what is this!? The Z is on the inside but is gaining more speed than what I could make up!?" The Supra driver reacted upon looking at his right.
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"Hmph... all drivers in the Wangan are the same... that's what makes it boring for me." says Daiki as he plans to quickly end this non-beneficial race.

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"D...drifting!? You're nuts, man!!" The Supra driver claims as he constantly grips down the road. The gap widens and widens indefinitely. Ahead is a sudden right. "You cannot control your car perfectly after that corner!!" he claims once more. He brakes earlier than the Z thus further widening the gap... Upon exiting the corner, the Supra driver stands in awe as...
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"Ho...how could this be?" He says as he decelerates...

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Daiki calmly looks at his mirror... seeing nothing behind him chasing after him either... "Typical... just typical..."
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It is definitely no match at all...

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The Z makes its way down Tokyo's empty highway... the sun is close to setting...
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There is no one interesting Daiki at this very moment...

At the other end of the Wangan area... there is another high-level driver making his, literal, mark down Tokyo...
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"Akiyama Daiki... where are you? You cannot hide from me not even in the day."
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"Lucky for me, work ended early... I could use the moment to search for you..."

As he searches... to his dismay... no one is there to answer his battle call... back with Daiki...
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"Hmm? The sun is setting... I think my run is done for now..." he says as he pulls to the side for the next exit, but... An incoming Rotary powered car approaches Daiki...

"Aha!! Z!! You're mine!!"
 
- Chapter 4: Revenge: Futility's Falter -

The Purple Mazda RX-8 closes in on Daiki's 350Z - It's Shin's RX-8. Shin has a lot of guts to challenge Daiki after seeing what happened to the seemingly unchallenged Toyota Supra moments ago. The sun sets slowly behind the skyline as another race commences. Shin kept on flashing his hi-beams at Daiki's Z daring him to accept his challenge. "What would make you different from the Supra earlier?" Daiki uttered to himself as he glances at his rearview mirror. Shin kept flashing at Daiki since the latter rejected his challenge for a kilometer now...

"Agh... fine. Have it your way." Daiki pressed down on his accelerator and plans to pull away from Shin. "I knew you'd do that, Z!" Shin exclaimed happily. He follows by pressing further on the gas to catch up to the Z. Miraculously, the RX-8 did keep up with the Z down the C1 inner loop entry, facing Rainbow Bridge. Daiki heard a familiar hissing sound as soon as the RX-8 shifts gears... "A high pressure turbine?" He was right about the sound. Shin installed a high pressure, stage 5 turbine on his 20B NA Rotary engine, making over 600 horsepower. This is bad for Daiki as his Z only currently has 438 horsepower, making Shin gain an instant win if it's a straight line match. There was one thing clear, though... this is the C1 inner loop. Out of all the wangan routes, this is the most technical of them all. Shin has the advantage on the long straights but Daiki could comprehend that with the variety of corners presented on the C1.

Shin easily passed Daiki from the fast lane, reaching speeds of 269 km/h in just 18 seconds. Daiki, not falling behind, keeps sight of the RX-8 in front of him. "It's just a rotary..." he utters... Daiki thinks that he could play around with Shin for the time being, pretending to lose at valid parts of the route and surprise him at the last moment.

Distance between the RX-8 and the 350Z aero is close to a hundred meters with not much traffic in front of them. Down a high speed corner, Shin, glides towards the inside as he taps his accelerator upon entry. Daiki, on the other hand blasts through the corner with full acceleration. Daiki sees a pair of trucks running side by side down the highway and plans to hide at the edge of one of them. Shin calmly runs in between the 2 trucks as he maintains his top speed. Glancing at the rearview mirror for a moment, he felt relieved. "X-8, I have avenged you..." He told his car as he continues to run down the sunset-coated road. Entering the Hamazakibashi branch opening, Shin slows down to gear 3 and power-overs through the corner. A huge powerslide was made; Shin waits for the tachometer to drop and suddenly increase again before he could shift to gear 4. Entering the high speed S curves into the tunnel, Shin suddenly felt the loss presence of the Z. "Did I win?" Suddenly, from his left, the Z appears powersliding with Daiki's foot off the accelerator. "Na-na-NANI!?" Shin exclaimed. As soon as the nose of the Z is leading, Daiki presses hard on the gas causing his Z to power over into the inside, he immediately countersteers and clears the corner with the 350Z infront of the RX-8 again.

Shin was in shock as he sees Daiki clear the rest of the Ginza area without braking. He could see from Daiki's behind that the exhaust burped out balls of flame as he removed his foot off the accelerator upon entry and rockets midway through the apex. Shin attempts it but hits his brakes as soon as his RX-8 begins to understeer, trying to clear the corner at the same speed as the 350Z. He made it out alive yet... sees no sight of the 350Z anymore. Before he could even reach the final end of the Ginza area, the place with the 3 slopes, he slows down admitting defeat and runs at the casual speed of more to less than a hundred kilometers an hour.

As for Daiki, he is drifting through the Edobashi branching and drifts down the tight slope at gear 4, with a speed of 189 km/h. This isn't his Z at its finest but he's still working on turning it to the best Wangan car ever; he only has one thought though against this: 'If I find driving the Wangan boring... then why am I forcing myself to perfect my car's tuning of it?' Is it really this thrilling? He finds an exit around Kandabashi and brings his car there to take a break before heading home. He pulls over to the left side, drops down to the city and parks his car at the Parking area near it. He steps out of his car and buys a can of soda from the vending machine; he took out some money and pressed the Pepsi icon. Daiki sat on the bench near his car and observes the landscape. The sun has already set and the night sky is about to perch over Tokyo. The lights lit up and Daiki notices an odd car bringing forth an immense aura: A white Nissan Skyline GT-R V-spec II with its back facing Daiki. He looks closer at the lower right end of the Skyline to see the icon: N1. "A lightweight GT-R in the Wangan... that's rare... majority of GT-Rs that trod the Tokyo highways are frikking heavy and lose their tire traction easily. He looks up to see a carbon stock wing equipped on the GT-R.

Daiki decided to stand up and observe the R34 next to his Z even more. He looks at the front to see a 1998 Lightweight Skyline BNR34 I hood. Looking at the front, he sees a similar front bumper to that of the Nismo Z tune; only with canards. The Rims are BBS branded with the mesh lightweight aluminum kind. Not only that... the body is labeled with the MINE'S tuning decals along with a few other tuning and part companies around it. The car from that standpoint happens to be a replica of the 2000 Mine's Skyline GT-R... only in the updated form of the V-spec II N1 type...

"Fine car isn't it?" a voice from behind Daiki told him. The latter glanced to see a gold haired, good looking Japanese youth stare at him with much eagerness. "Hi. I am Raymond Yamazaki. And you are?" Raymond said as he extends his hand to Daiki. "I'm Akiyama Daiki. Just call me Daiki." he replied. "Alright Daiki." Raymond eagerly answered back. "To be honest, I was looking at your 350Z too. This is your Z, right?" Daiki nods back.

"Hmm... I've heard rumors..." Raymond thought out loud; intentionally making Daiki listen. "There's a rumor that a mysterious 350Z has defeated one of the reigning champions around here... a silver Evolution 8..." Daiki knew who it was. Raymond was obviously talking about Seiji. "You up for a race?" Raymond immediately asked. "I am dying to see how your Z performs..."

In fact, Daiki was utterly curious to what this N1 type GT-R could do down the Wangan. Daiki accepts with a nod which made Raymond very happy. "I'll lead." He said to Daiki who didn't bother to answer back. They rode in their cars afterwards and the Z starts to follow the white R34. Raymond didn't tell Daiki of his Wangan name: Lightning Angel since he thinks this might disturb Daiki's driving. To tell you the truth, it didn't matter to Daiki. He'd race anyone, anytime yet would not find any delight in it since there's nothing for him at the end of the battle.

As soon as the line is passed, Raymond pressed further on his accelerator and blasts his way down the Wangan. Daiki sits calmly and follows the R34, equalling his pace with the GT-R's...
 
- Chapter 5: Before the Night Ends -

Slowly, the cars crippled as they exit the parking area onto the Wangan, almost exceeding the 100 km/h bracket before entering its territory. There was something odd about how Yamazaki maintained his speed with Daiki; and no it isn't a tap-tap style of pressing the accelerator; he intentionally lets go of the gas, letting Daiki lead the way. "Hmm?" Daiki just hummed in his seat as he observed the GT-R from his rearview mirror. "Show me what you are made of, Z driver. I want you to prove to me the ability you own, as said by the spreading rumors!!" Raymond thought out loud in his seat as he shifts to gear 3 and attempts to blast his way from behind.

IMG0000-2.jpg


Entering one corner into the Chiyoda tunnel, Raymond stomps on his accelerator and breaks free of the tie.

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Suddenly, the gap immediately widens. Daiki, however wasn't surprised. "It's typical of a car like that to accelerate that quick. It possessed a peak power of 558 while my Z is still just on the 430 hp bracket. I am not surpised. Not at all. But it doesn't mean I won't let this race stay like this until the end. I'll still win; even if it is a pointless match." Daiki reclined on his seat and firmly grips his hands on the steering wheel.

IMG0002-2.jpg


Exiting the tunnel, onto the Hamazakibashi branching, the gap continues to widen out even more. Daiki kept his eyes glued on the R34, knowing that there is a way to catch up. There wasn't much traffic at this hour so he couldn't pull off any surprise attacks unlike hours ago against Shin. Suddenly, the R34 turned to the right. "Not into the Ginza road?" Daiki gave some thought. Often than not, most of the people who battled him would take the race around the C1. Is Raymon that confident in beating Daiki's Z?

Surprisingly, on one corner, the R34 braked long, thus causing it to lose a lot of precious earned speed. Raymond looks at his rearview mirror; surprised to see the Z catching up upon corner entry.

IMG0003-2.jpg


Lucky For Daiki, they weren't heading to the opposite way heading to the Ohi U-turn slot. They are heading for the Wangan line so Daiki has to make use of the road infront of him to minimize the gap before they could reach the Wangan line. It goes without saying that Daiki wishes to end it before the Wangan line entry to Ohi. Coincidentially, Raymond is thinking of the same thing.

The End road is a mid speed Chicane section until the Wangan line brancing...

IMG0005-2.jpg


Without too much unnecessary braking, Daiki catches up to Raymond's 34 through the corners controlling with just the gas and his power over drifts.

IMG0006-2.jpg


But Lightning Angel Yamazaki refuses to give his lead and fights for it, even through the narrow junctions. Then, the road brances out from 2 lanes to 3. Daiki notices that Raymond is slowly increasing his braking force. He makes use of this opportunity to get close to his GT-R.

Shifting to gear 4 consecutively with the R34, Daiki felt something was wrong. The GT-R is gaining more accelerating force than the 350Z could pull out. Again, the R34 pulls away from the Z.

IMG0007-2.jpg


Realizing that waiting for another opportunity to overtake would take him too long of a time, Daiki positions the Z right behind the GT-R to lessen the chances of it pulling away further. Yes, he entered the slipstream behind the R34.

IMG0008-1.jpg


Luckily for Daiki, despite the long stretch of road as they turned right onto the Wangan line, he stayed right behind the more powerful R34. Entering the Tokyo Port tunnel, he breaks free at the point where the apex changes in radius, from a straight to a corner as some may say.

IMG0009-1.jpg


But, Raymond is still putting up quite a fight, even on the corners.

IMG0010-1.jpg


"I won't let you!!" He hollered as he pressed deeper on the accelerator. A sweat drop rolled down Daiki's cheek as they battle it out on the corner. Even with Raymond's R34 on the outside, he still manages to pull further into the lead.

They make a hard right at the Ohi U-turn but Raymond, who is leading, decides to make a left than a right turn back to the Ginza road leading them into the Yokohane area. Dominating at the corners, Daiki manages to close the gap once more. He grits his teeth due to the annoying decisions that Raymond makes at junction points. :"Does he really want to end this race or what? It's getting late!!" Daiki said in an abruptly annoyed tone.

IMG0011-1.jpg


A soft right bend is where the battle between Daiki and Raymond continues. "The Lightning Angel... the title I've been given. I have to uphold this name!!" Raymond uttered to himself as he makes a hard right with the tires of the GT-R slightly understeering to the side. "Ugh..." He moaned angrily as they past the Future Lab building near Katsushima.

IMG0012-1.jpg


Daiki pushes every bit of his 350Z just to maintain it's distance from the R34.

IMG0013-1.jpg


Through another left, the R34 understeers again. Raymond is getting annoyed. He didn't expect to find a wangan runner that night so he switched his Full slicks for the R compound tires, which have great grip but fades faster than the all superior, long endurance racing slick tires.

IMG0014-2.jpg


At one point past the Heiwajima tollgate, the GT-R understeered greatly and was about to crash into one of the tolls. Raymond braked long and hard to avoid the accident and regain control; costing him the lead and Daiki was able to gain the lead. He rubs the sweat drop off his face and continues to try to outrun the GT-R. But with its lightweight body, the R34 manages to stick to the Z.

IMG0015.jpg


As they enter the entrance to the Haneda tunnel with its steep dropping left, the Z understeers too due to its high entry speed. Raymond brakes at the right moment to gain control of his car upon entry. Daiki manages to regain control with just tapping his gas and brakes. As he countersteers softly, he does a clutch kick maneuvere to increase the countersteer force without turning his wheel too much. The gap decereased more. This time, both drivers were sure: whoever reaches the Haneda tunnel first would be the victor of the night. Daiki & Raymond pressed hard on their accelerators as they blast out of the Haneda entrance's exit.

IMG0016.jpg


The race looked like a very close dogfight down the straight. As they shift to gear 5, the R34 is gaining ground, closing in on the Z.

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Raymond only had one problem in his R34. The gear setup for gear 6 is too wide: yes he will have a higher top speed but it would cost him most of the car's acceleration upon entering that gear, making the R34, that is near the Z, fall back. They were tied as soon as the end point of their gear is close. 7000 to Daiki and 8000 to Raymond. They shifted consecutively; Raymond didn't notice it and...

IMG0018-1.jpg


He lost the chance to regain his lead. Daiki won as his Z entered the Haneda tunnel first with a ruler's width gap from the R34 on its left. Daiki calls it a night and opens his hazards upon entry to the Haneda tunnel. It was the final race of the night and Daiki was satisfied with the outcome.
 
- Chapter 6: First Impressions -

A week has passed. Things have become more subtle at the Wangan area. If there were anybody racing at all, it would have to be Seiji Tsuchiya and a few living legends trodding around Wangan. Daiki has had enough for a while with running down the wangan so his Z sits soundly at the Akiyama racing School's executive garage. Recently, Daiki requested to the tuning commentators and the students to revert the car's exterior back to stock. During one session, there was a test for the S class students and Daiki is proctoring the exam. At one instance, he dozed off and remembered what he and Raymond "Lightning Angel" Yamazaki talked about during their last battle...

[Daikoku Futo Parking area. 7 Days ago. 11:07 p.m.]

The Z and R34 came to a halt at the Daikoku Futo parking area. There was a vending machine nearby and both drivers stepped out and bought 2 cans of Fruit cola. Raymond fixed his hair and started to talk: "That was the greatest battle that I ever had... of all the competitors I've battled, you're the only one who gave it to me." "Is that flattery? Because I sure don't think so. Whatever I've done never pleased anyone." Daiki uttered. "Nonsense. This is true. I've been in the street and pro racing business for a long time and..." "Really? So have I." "Sure? Anyway," Raymond coughed. "...and I have raced many competitors of your calibur. Nearly all have faltered over my R34 N1. You are so far the only one who has defeated my record." Raymond stares at the night sky for a moment of silence.

"Raymond..." Daiki uttered. "So you're a legend at these parks?" He asked. "You haven't heard of the Lightning Angel? That's actually me. I heard too stories of a mysterious unrelenting 350Z around the Wangan roads so when I noticed your Z... I gave this conclusion that you are that mysterious Z driver." Raymond gave thought. "I don't believe much in rumors..." Daiki honestly mentioned. "nor am I that up to date with stories of Wangan figures... but I could tell that you have honed this skill of yours for a long time now, Raymond." "Please, call me Ray." Raymond chuckled. "I have. This is how I spent my wealth... part of it to be frank. And I think it is well worth it." Daiki looks at the same sky that Raymond was looking at too. "Someday... I'd like to meet you again and race you one more time." Raymond turned to Daiki and gave a serious smile. "Someday. But not within this moment. I'm still... searching." "Searching?" "For what I desire within this life on the Wangan..." Daiki humbly admits. "well I hope you find it soon so that not only I would enjoy this battle... you would too... Don't let this knowledge and skill you possess go to waste."

Raymond walks over to his R34 and makes a gentle sweep with his left hand. "This R is made equally for circuit and highway use. I now know what it does at full potential and I thank you for that." He opens the door and gets in his car. Turning on the ignition, the finely tuned RB26DETT engine roars immensely at its courageous tone. Raymond opens his window and says to Daiki one last time "Until then, Daiki. I'll be seeing you soon here." Raymond finishes. He shifts the car to R at full throttle on the empty parking area, pulls his E-brake, does a 180 spin, and leaves the parking area in full force. Daiki just stared at the R34 that has left his sight.

"Sir Daiki.,,"

"Sir Daiki..."

"SEMPAI!!"

[Akiyama Racing School, Present Day, 4:45 p.m.]

"Huh?" Daiki said in a blurr. He dozed off thinking of what just happened a week ago. He looks to see most of the class done with the exam and are handing their papers at Daiki. "Oh, did I kept you waiting?" he asked the class. "No sir." One of the male students in front uttered. "We just finished." "The test was short but was hard. We took our time but I think it is well worth it." another student said as his repositions his glasses on his face. "That's good." He said with a pale smile. "Alright. Just hand them over and I'll see you all tomorrow." Daiki said.

It was a thursday and the class seems to take the lesson well. From afar, Daiki could hear a pair of stomping feet becoming louder at each step. Thomp. Thomp. Thomp! Thomp! He even heard one of the students 'eek' out. Near the classroom where Daiki was proctoring, he saw a famished Kitana leaning next to the wall. "So sorry I'm late. Our principal lectured our batch too long and I wasn't able to get out... C-Could I still take the test? I'm well ready for it!!" Kitana insisted. Daiki just gave a huge sigh. "The test was over." He said to Kitana straight.

"EEEEEEEEEeeeeeehhhhhhhHHHHHHHH!"

Kitana broke down in shame. Her left hand aided her body as she fell on her knees on the floor. "I said that I would do my best when I said I'll be part of the S-class... I guess I'm not proving myself worthy of my word, am I?" Kitana softly uttered to herself. Daiki couldn't feel sorry for Kitana. She really wanted to be part of the class but was already late for 3 days, yet he could see her drive on this. She really wanted to be a racer at this youthful age. He could see the potential that she has in her. "Well..." he quoted. "There's still a way." Kitana suddenly felt a ray of hope shine at her and jumps with joy. "THERE IS!?" She exclaimed. "Since classes are done and I am the only person left in the building, hows say you take the test now?" Daiki got on his knees and held Kitana by the shoulders. "You want to, right?" He asked her with a smile. Suddenly, Kitana's heart starts to race; beating faster and faster as she could still feel Daiki's palm right on her. She gave a slow nod to Daiki.

[CLASS S-3, Akiyama Racing School, 5:12 p.m,]
Kitana is halfway through the test and Daiki is still in the room proctoring her. Kitana browses through the remaining questions and looks at Daiki consecutively. Daiki leans back on the teacher's seat and still looks at her. Kitana suddenly broke into famished sweat and quickly passed out infront of Daiki. "?" he stated as he looked at Kitana. Her hand is still writing on the answer sheet, even when unconscious but she isn't writing the answers...

~Daiki + Kitana~

She doodled all of that at the edges of her test paper. When she got back to her senses, she panicked and enclosed her arms on her test paper. She was all red and ashamed; passing out during the exam with just her and Daiki in the room. "Gomene... Daiki sempai" she whispered.

[CLASS S-3, Akiyama Racing School, 5:28 p.m.]
Kitana hands over her test paper to Daiki. "Here, sir." "C'mon. You don't need to be THAT formal on me." Daiki told Kitana as he took the paper from her hands. "let me check it right now." he said as he turns the paper around. Kitana was in a praying position as she walks away from him. "Please don't get mad, please don't get mad, please don't get mad..." she prayed. Lucky for her, he ignored the doodles and just kept checking. After a minute of checking Daiki shows Kitana her test results. "Here." He hands her the paper with the empty page facing her. She turns around to see "93%"

Her hands were shaking. She couldn't believe it. "Congratulations." Daiki commented. "Guess you are right with your word afterall. You deserve it." Unconsciously, she gives Daiki a big hug with a smile. She came to her senses again, blushed immensely, and pushed herself away from Daiki. "I guess you need some rest." Daiki said. "Go home, don't go anywhere else. Take a long rest and get ready for your school tomorrow. I'll see you tomorrow at 4. Don't be late this time, okay?" Daiki told Kitana who gave a huge "hai!" in return.

[Next day... Akiyama Racing School, 4:00 p.m.]

Kitana arrived at the racing school, all parched. "I'm here sem..." Daiki wasn't there. It was Naoko, one of his colleagues. "Ah, you're the one Daiki's referring to. The underaged..." Naoko commented. "W-where WHERE'S SEMPAI?" "Daiki you mean? He called this morning and said that he called in sick. He won't be coming today." Naoko apologized. "Sempaaaaaaiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!!!!" Kitana shouted out. "Aw, this is so unfair!"

Somewhere at the Tokyo commercial district, Daiki just walked around. He wasn't sick at all. He went window shopping at male clothe stores, played a bit at the arcade, and dined out to ease his mind. He sat at one bench at the Ueno park after all that commercial ventures he had. He looks at the autumn sky, watching the leaves fall down, red and yellow altogether. Some time has passed and someone caught Daiki's attention. Near the sidewalk at the edge of the park, she saw somebody checking the engine bay of a foreign sports car. "Hmm? Who could that be?" He looks at the person's outfit. "A skirt and coat? Hmm... A woman, obviously. I better help her out. She's been there for more than 10 minutes so she must be having a hard time dealing with her car." He stood up and approached the woman. As he got closer the look of the car is familiar to him now: a Porsche Boxster S. "A 01' model Porsche, eh? Excuse me, is it alright if I he-"

"Yes, monsieur?" The woman replied as she faced Daiki. She had mid length, bright blonde-brown hair and flashing green eyes. She had a very wonderful facial structure with peach-like cheeks, unlike ordinary typical french women, her complexion was like that of a model's. She is as high as Daiki, in terms of height. The woman moves her hair to the side to look at Daiki. His heartbeat suddenly raced. "What is this feeling?"

"Is something wrong?" the woman asked.
"No-nothing. Here. Let me help." he said and walked towards her.
He stood next to her and checks the problem. "Hmm... a flat 6 engine, eh?"
"You seem pretty familiar with your vehicles, Monsieur." the woman spoke. "Oh me? I'm in the automotive business. This is nothing for me?"
"Really? That's quite neat. I really adore men who are very familiar with their vehicles compared to their familiarity with women."
Daiki in a sudden shock, rose his head; thus, hitting the trunk in the process. "Ow!" "Did you get hurt?" "T-this is nothing." he assured her.
Looking deeper into the engine bay, Daiki found something unusual stuck near the engine. "I see your problem, miss." The woman got close to him asking "What is it then?"

Blushing at her, Daiki immediately points to the problem: a piece of cardboard paper stuck near the cooling system of the Porsche Boxster. "No wonder the engine is heating up faster than usual." The woman thought to herself. Daiki ripped the piece of cardboard off to shreds until part of them he got it and part of it fell down the underbody.

"There we go. All better." Daiki noted. "Oh..." the woman noticed on Daiki - his arms are covered with grease. She took something from the car's interior and told Daiki to show her his arm. She had a damp cloth with alcohol on it and wiped the grease off his arms. Daiki just blushed in his place and watched her clean it like a concerned sweetheart.

"I don't know how to thank you um..."
"It's Daiki. Daiki Akiyama." Daiki introduced himself. "I'm 20 years old, I own the Akiyama Racing School, still single, I like to eat chicken and..."
The woman just laughed. She wasn't asking much of Daiki's bio data still, he gave it away.
"Did I do something wrong?"
"you're funny. I like guys who are funny..."
"!!... what was you name again?"
"My name is... Claudia Fortescue. But people call me Chloe. Chloe as in: kuh-low-i. Got that?"
"Claudia... or Chloe... I got it."
With that, she ran off. Halfway to her pink Boxster... she stopped. "Um, Daiki-san... when... would I meet you again?"
"You want to meet me again?" He asked again in an awkward tone.
"Well..." she thought. Daiki just gave a huge sigh to himself took out his phone and gave it to Claudia. "Type it."
"Mm?"
"Your phone number and e-mail."
"Oh... okay."
Claudia... eh, Chloe texted onto Daiki's cell her e-mail and cell phone number. Daiki called the number and dismissed it when Chloe attempted to answer it. "Save the number."
"Okay. I'll Tell you when and where you want to meet. Je vous verrai bientôt !."
She ran off straight to her Porsche and drove off.
"When and where eh?" he wondered. He looks at his cellphone to check on Chloe's number. He stared at it and suddenly his heart starts racing again.
"Is this..." Daiki thought as he touched his chest.
"...love at first sight?"
 
First things first, you've finally got a fanfic! (I know it ain't yours :P) And lemme get this straight. This story/fanfic is your friend's and you're just copying and pasting it here to help him spread word?
 
First things first, you've finally got a fanfic! (I know it ain't yours :P) And lemme get this straight. This story/fanfic is your friend's and you're just copying and pasting it here to help him spread word?

He told me to spread it here instead of having his own self come :lol: Oh well, I guess I'm the representative of some sorts for now.
 
Nice story, I hope he keeps up the good work. 👍
 
- Chapter 7: Priorities -

[Akiyama Racing School; Friday 7:07 p.m.]

It's the late hour at the Akiyama Racing school. Only a handful of employees stayed for the sole purpose of checking the condition of the vehicles for Tomorrow's exhibition day and second hands on of the current students of the S-class. Kitana had already missed the first hands on exhibition and is feeling quite a bit gloomy about it. The person leading the check-ups of the entire garage committee is Naoko Takahashi. Tying her hair into a slender ponytail, she flips it to one side and takes out a clipboard to do a status check and discussion of the recent condition of the vehicles listed in it.

"Are the cars good to go for tomorrow?" She asked all the mechanics.
"Yes ma'am" all have confirmed.
"Tomorrow, it will be under the jurisdiction of the students as to which tire compound they'll be requesting for tomorrow's exhibition."
"With all that settled, I think we managed to finished everything undertime."
"SIR!!" All of the mechanics stood still like a troop of soldiers upon seeing their commanding officer. Actually, it was Daiki.
"Sir Daik- I mean, Sir Akiyama. Good evening." Naoko greeted.
"So" he said with a smile, "How's the final check up?"
"Um... good to go?"
"Glad to hear that. You may all go home now." Daiki told to everybody in the garage.

The mechanics stretched their legs, removed their jackets and walked out of the racing school, feeling famished and angst to get home in order to sleep. When Naoko turned around to ask Daiki something, he disappeared. "Daiki? Where are you?"

Daiki is actually in his office; it's the obvious place for Naoko to find him first. She arrived right on time to see Daiki sitting there by his table, thinking. He had his first two upper buttons of his long sleeved shirt unbuttoned and his sleeves folded. Daiki just stared at the shining moon right out his window, looking as if he was hypnotized or drunk. "Are you alright Daiki?"

"I think..."
"That's not a good sign." Naoko shrugged.
"...I'm in love..." Daiki said.
This shocked Naoko and she dropped her clipboard upon hearing the news. Is he really the serious Daiki Akiyama whom she is working for? But the ambiance, however, is driving Naoko closer to him. Daiki does have astounding good looks for an automotive business man. It's quite fascinating to look at him in the dark with the moon reflecting its light at his face. Naoko's heartbeat starts to thump harder and harder by the minute. She has been working for Daiki for the past 4 years; make that ever since this Akiyama racing school was made. She had no feelings for Daiki right until now, when she saw him smile for the whole night.

"So..." She curiously stated. "Who are you in love with?"
"A woman from France. Her name is Chloe..."

Exposing the name of who Daiki likes somewhat gave a bittersweet effect on Naoko. She shows happiness for Daiki's success but is in pain as to why it isn't her. She's pretty; Naoko I mean, but Daiki evidently has no interest in women at all right until he met Chloe.

"R-really?" She said in a surprised tone. "Congratulations, Daiki. I'm happy for you (yet at the same time, envious)"
"She's like the most beautiful western woman I have met. Her looks captivated me for some reason." Daiki said with the same drunk face.

"W-what's she like?"
"Blonde hair, a great figure, a smile of a goddess, all that you could ever think of and wished to have..." he said still with the same drunk face.
Naoko was quite disturbed about that last statement. "What in the hell are you saying Daiki?"
"I just feel as if I am walking on air, that's all."
"Pfft. Give me a break." Naoko shrugged incessantly.

Daiki gets rid of his love sick face as he tilts to face Naoko. "By the way, it's late at night. Shouldn't you like go home and rest?" Daiki asked all of a sudden.
"I can't until I get your viewpoint on this."
"What is it all about?"
"It's about Kitana Tioseco."
"What about her?"
"She missed day 1 of our hands on exhibitions. We have a policy for all students to synchronize their hands on activities so that they won't cause a casualty on the next hands on session. What are we gonna do about it?"
"I have a plan." Daiki smirks. "Leave her to me. She'll be ready by Monday. I guarantee you that."

Daiki and Naoko left the office together and closed the entire place for the night.
"Is everything set?" Daiki asked before he boards his 350Z, which was by the way returned to its stock body. Naoko nods in agreement. "Good. I'll drive you home."
"Y-you don't have to do that. Just until the station is fine."
Naoko boards the Z as well as soon as Daiki steps foot on the car. He turns on the gas and drive off.

"Say, Daiki..." Naoko asked upon stopping at an intersection.
"What is it?"
"I was wondering when could you go to my place... to see my car, you know..."
"Why not now?"
"I-I can't because my place is a mess at the moment." She says with a laugh.
"I'll see what my schedule has for me."
Naoko just sat on her seat and decides not to talk to Daiki at the moment. She starts thinking to herself, 'so this is the Daiki I know. A bit cold but concerned. I wonder what is in that girl he keeps talking about back at the office that intrigues him?'

Daiki dropped Naoko off at the station, bid her farewell, and drives off into the Wangan. He checks his horizon to see if there's anyone gullible enough to challenge him at all. 'Hmm... no takers tonight. Better light up my Hazards just to be sure.' he thought as he did just so.

At the opposite lane, a battle was commencing. Seiji Tsuchiya's Evolution 8 MR is in action as it faces off with a Blue Subaru Impreza version 6 GC8. Down at the long straightway, before the New Belt line junction, the Impreza brakes hard but the body slightly sways awkwardly. "Hmph. Bad brakes I guess..." Seiji uttered as he goes side to side with the Impreza upon braking. Seiji halved his braking power as soon as he gets closer into the corner, whereas the Impreza driver is pressing it with all that he's got. Seiji, in order to break the driver's concentration, nudges the car right onto the lane of the Impreza, nearly causing a collision. The Impreza thought that he plans on crashing to win and raises his e-brake upon panicking. Seiji removes his feet off both pedals as he makes his way into the corner and goes full throttle upon passing the apex clearing the corner perfectly and smoothly.

The Impreza just entered the apex and has a view of the Evo 8: far far away at an estimate of 200 meters in an instant. He slows down upon admitting defeat. Seiji, passing the 155 mph mark speeds down the New Belt line. Seiji enters the tunnel and blasts through traffic like hell. 500 meters away from the tunnel, Daiki is maintaining his cruising speed of 120 mph down the freeway, where coincidentially, Seiji is 700 meters away from the end of the tunnel. At the exact moment, at the tunnel's end from Seiji's point of view, the Evolution 8 and the Fairlady Z clashed lanes. Both drivers, though didn't expect each other to show up and thus ignored their presences... well, one of them actually.

"Akiyama..." Seiji whispered. He knew that it was Daiki's Z that passed on the other side of the road.

[Kitana's General High School, southbound of Tokyo; Saturday 12:15 p.m.]

Kitana and her class is at school for sports practice for the upcoming sports festival by friday. She is leading the class' mixed soccer team to victory with a 'flawless' plan she had in mind. At this moment, they're on the last minute of their practice round. She's running to the opposing team's goal with just her and another striker with her at the opponent's mid field area. Back row mid fielders and defenders did their best to attempt sliding tackles on the striker who had the ball. At the moment where the striker nearly loses his balance upon impact, he kicks it to Kitana 20 meters away.

The kick was far off and Kitana decides to jump to reach it. She does a diving header and aims the ball at the left edge of the goal. The ball was going high so the goalie thought that she was aiming for the upper left corner. She jumps at the wrong moment to block it - too early. The ball loses its vertical momentum and is slowly falling towards the ground as it still flies over to the goal. The ball flies below the goalie's shirt and hits the net. Goal! Kitana scored the last goal of the game.

"Woo hoo! Kit! you were awesome!!"
"We'll definitely win the soccer games of the festival by Friday!!"
"You guys are right!" Kitana smiled happilly.

[15 minutes later]

The entire class is ready to leave for their personal trips. Kitana runs off to the school's entrance. She is wearing just a simple pair of denim pants, right until the middle of her legs, her everyday sneakers, and a red, sleeveless windbreaker with a standard sando inside of it. She stops to check her change if it is enough for the train fare.

"Hmm... let's see... train fare today is at 350 yen per head... let's see... 100...200...50..."
"You don't have to do that, you know... counting your change in broad daylight..."

Kitana turns to see somebody she wasn't expecting at all, leaning next to a shiny 350Z. It is Daiki.

"D-D-D-Da-Dai-Daiki Sempai? W---what are you doing here?"
"I'm here to pick you up."
Her heart staggers upon hearing that.
"I'm going to tutor you to catch up to the rest of the group."
"Are you with anyone?" Kitana asks out of the blue.
"Nope. It would be just you and I for the afternoon."
"I see. (Ya-tah!!)" Kitana smiles at Daiki. She runs off to the passenger side of the Z and enters it.
"Well? What are we waiting for? Let's go!!" She addressed Daiki with a fist up in the air.

[Akiyama Racing School - Motorland exhibition course; Saturday 1:00 p.m.]

IMG0015-1.jpg


Everything is quiet at the racing school at this hour. Daiki requested no one to report that day, not even the janitors; all but current B-class and A-class students renting the course for track meet practice sessions. Since he owns it, he has the keys to the entire place and could go in and out as he pleases. He opens the garage gate onto the exhibition tracks and brings his Z to a halt. Both he and Kitana stepped off the car to examine the course.

"What is this place, Sempai?"
"This is where we do most of our exhibition hands on classes. Naoko told me that you missed day 1 so I want you to catch up to the rest for Monday afternoon's day 2."
"So I'll have the first chance to race my Lambo here?"
"Whoa! I wouldn't go that far just yet. This is just part 1 of your solo training. As I told you before, the students I handle are aiming for the pro league even when they're still on their late teens. They're veterans at this and what I teach them is what you could say a basic-veteran course. This is why the S-class students are of the elite group in the entire school." Daiki explains.
"Elite? (Hmm... I do like the sound of that one. Heh heh)" Kitana wonders while chuckling at the end.
"They wouldn't give a damn if you are a kid at all. They'll hate you if you ever beat them. And more so if they knew that I'm giving you special training; they may think I may have favoritisms for little girls taking up big lessons like this..."
"Too bad for them and good for you though..."
"And what is that supposed to mean?" He asked Kitana with a serious face.
"No-no- nothing. heh heh" she reacted with a sweatdrop falling on one side of her face.

"By the way, sempai." Kitana asks.
"Yeah?"
"You said this is just part 1. What is part 2?"
"If it is okay with you tonight..."
Kitana blushes and says "Yes I am free tonight for dinner."
"Dinner?"
"I'm kidding again. Heh heh." She was thinking of something that came out of television and just acts out the scene to confuse Daiki but to tell you the truth, she thought it was something else.
"Har har har..." Daiki ironically laughs. "Not what I had in mind but actually, part 2, we'll be going to Doushi Touge to do a run with a couple of my friends from team Kansai."
"This early!?"
"Don't worry. You'll be facing the girlfriend of their youngest member. Don't worry, she's a novice too. Just be cautious about her car."
"What about it?"
"Nothing. You'll see later. For now, choose your vehicle as per training."

Daiki extends his hand, which has a remote control in the end. He presses it and a click out from the garage sounds off; then the gate lifts up revealing two cars...


A red Toyota MR-S 1.8 V edition 2002
A green Mitsubishi Eclipse GSX 1996


"An Eclipse and an MR-S?"Kitana asks.
"Yup. You see, I've observed your Diablo when you first came here and by how it looks, it's a mid engine 4WD... a bit untraditional compared to the Mid Engine RWD of first Diablos. So you need to choose between a pure MR or a generic 4WD based from a FWD."
"I'd definitely go for a pure MR over something generic. I knew that the Eclipse handles more like an FF anyway, which sucks anyway."
"Good for you... to pick the MR-S."
"Hey, sempai. That's my line and thanks."

[PART 1 - BASIC LINE SELECTION]

"Day 1 of our recently concluded exhibition race was about selecting the best line to use in a course. I am pretty sure you know basic acceleration, braking, and cornering skills so we don't have to go over those, even if you are a complete starter at this."
"Okay. My mom said that I should feel my car in order for me to know where I am exactly going." Kitana shared.
"That's a good thought given to you by your mom, Kudos. In order for us to at least get the closest feel of a mid engine 4WD in this MR-S..." Daiki explains as he boards it. "...I changed the compound of the fronts to be a little more harder than the usual. A standard MR would spin out if you're not careful. and a standard 4WD swerves over to the outside if you're not careful either so... we'll try getting to that part in this MR-S. It might spin... or it might swerve to the outside... who knows."
"What will you do, sempai?"

"I'll make a warm up around the track then set my fastest lap time within 5 laps. What you need to do after this is to get your fastest lap time close to this. I'll give you 5 chances as well. If you succeed, as in get it close to half a second, or even beat my basic time... we'll go tonight to Doushi touge."
"Why not straight after?"
"My peers from Team Kansai don't appear until past 7. That's why. Don't worry. you'll be safe with me. Now, let's begin the training session By the way, you'll be running with 5 students from the A-class. I'll demonstrate with the B-class students what you should do. Pay attention."

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The MR-S enters the pits and Daiki steps out of the car as soon as he brings it to a complete halt.
"Now, it's your turn." he told Kitana. Who was simply sitting at the pits waiting for Daiki to pull over.
"OKay." She noted as she slowly steps onto the car.
"Hmm..." She noticed. "It feels so compact."
"Alright. To familiarize yourself with the course and the car, I'm giving you one warm up lap. after you pass lap 1, concentrate on breaking the time record, okay? Or at least try to get close to it." Daiki noted. Kitana just nodded her head upon agreement.
She shifts the car to gear 1 properly and the car idly exits out of the pit lane. Once she gets sight of the first corner, she floors it. Daiki had the TCS of the car on so its natural for it to cause skidding during cornering. The car's power, however, lessens those chances and it went smoothly through the first corner at a constant speed of 100+ km/h.

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At the moment that they reach lap 2, Kitana's attention is being veered from concentrating on the lap record set by Daiki to fighting the A-class' top student: Hiroshi Hideokawa, driving the dark grey Toyota Supra JZA70.

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All of the combatants of the current race are using vehicles which have 170++ horsepower, with Kitana at the lowest advantage, as her MR-S is only at 141 hp. "That JZA..." Kitana utters... "Am I... being drawn by its performance? Or am I being drawn by the driver's performance?"

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Entering lap 4, Kitana just reached a time of 51.478; still not passable. Her lap 2 was enough though to pass but Kitana wanted to beat the JZA70 infront of her. The 2 drivers get close to a white Lotus Europa Special, upon entry to the first J-turn. The Europa understeered onto the sand pit. "This is what Daiki is telling me about... I better be careful..." Kitana uttered to herself.

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At the last corner, Kitana sees a flaw on the JZA70 & Europa's entry point; they were too centered on the middle of the road. She takes this chance and brakes towards the inside, overtaking the JZA and Europa successively and fights for the lead at the straightway to lap 6.

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Well... for two things, it was a double win: Kitana defeated Hiroshi AND got close enough to Daiki's record despite the fact that she had the TCS on , whereas Daiki drove without it, at lap 5: 50.249 seconds. She felt so relieved that she enters the pits while decelerating to idle speed not minding to finish lap 6.

"Well, sempai?" Kitana said as she stepped out of the car. "Did I do good?"
Daiki looks at the watch and sees her time: 0"50.292. "It's a good time. I was expecting that you'd pit in after lap 2 but I guess... being drawn to challenge that JZA70 did something better. Congratulations, Kitana." He said with a smile.
"Now... where do you want to go before we head to that place, sempai?"
"I'll treat you for an afternoon snack at McDonalds. How's that?"
"Neat." She replied with a big smile at Daiki.
They both rode the MR-S and drove off the Motorland speedway.

[Doushi Touge, outskirts of Tokyo - 7:10 p.m.]

Team Kansai's members have gathered for a meeting: A GDB Impreza type V 02', AE86 Levin, AE86 Group-A Trueno, FD3S RX-7 R1, and FC3S RX-7 infini IV. Some have mistaken the last 3 as the famous Project D[SIZE=0.5]®[/SIZE] from before because of their cars. "Tell me..." Hiroto, leaning on the Trueno, asked. "What is it?" Kyosuke, sitting next to his FC, answered. "You said we're going to meet somebody. Who is it?" "Oh, just a good friend of mine back in the day." Kyosuke answered back. Reisuke, leaning on his FD, could hear an incoming 1.6 liter Toyota engine from afar. "Sounds like a Toyota. But it's rear wheel drive... and the engine is at the back..."
"An MR-S?"
"Possibly."

As soon as the red MR-S comes into view and parks at the opposite side of where Team Kansai is, two people stepped out of the car. "Hey, Kyosuke. It's been a while." It was Daiki Akiyama who gave the greeting. "Hey, Daiki. How are you? How's the racing business?" "Oh, the usual. say I got a request for you. Could Masayo, the girl riding the GDB, race my student here one on one downhill, if you don't mind that is?" Daiki requested humbly.

"Why, anything for you Daiki. If it wasn't for you, I wouldn't have made this team in the first place, eh? Masayo-san!" Kyosuke called out to the girl leaning against her Impreza, talking to her boyfriend sitting in the hood of his AE86 Levin.
"Hai?" she asked as she approached Daiki.
"It's time to put what you've learned in the team so far to the test."
"Hai."
"See that girl with my friend Daiki, the one standing next to the MR-S? I want you to race her one on one downhill. I'll send Hiroto to check on the results at the base and Reisuke by the mid point near the reservoir."
"Wa-kata." Masayo answered in fluent Japanese.
She got on her Impreza and pulled it to the starting line.
"Kitana." Daiki called.
"Yes, sempai?" Kitana eagerly awaited the orders to be told by her teacher.
"Just do what you did with the JZA70 back at the track, you know, following the line your rival took... and you'll win this. After the race, both of you come back up."
"Okay." Kitana humbly answered.
She got on the MR-S and went to the point where Masayo is waiting.
Masayo's boyfriend, Katsushiro also went to the starting point to start the countdown for the two girls.

"Katsushiro-san. Did Kyosuke-san told you to join in as well?"
"No." Katsushiro answered. "He told me to start the countdown for the two of you. It's part of our routine, right?"
"Yeah. I remember. C'mon, let's do this. I'm psyched about racing already, don't you know?"
Masayo, before she boards her car, faces Kitana and does the usual introductions.
"Yorusuku. I am Masayo of Team Kansai. It's nice to meet you." She said as she extends her hand to Kitana.
"Kitana Tioseco. I'm an S-class student of Daiki Akiyama. Nice to meet you too." She answered as she gave her hand too.
The two girls shook on it and got on their cars for the battle to commence.

[KITANA (ZZW30) VS MASAYO (GDB) - DOUSHI TOUGE RUN A DOWNHILL]

Katsushiro rose his right hand signaling the start of the countdown. "Alright!! The race will start in THREE!!..."
Masayo and Kitana shifted their cars to gear 1.
"TWO!!..."
They both raised their e-brake.
"ONE!!..."
They timed their accelerator press to the right rpm upon the signal...
"GO!!..."
Both the MR-S and GDB took off perfectly. Because the Impreza GDB is a 4WD, Masayo gained a lot of ground and positioned her car right infront of Kitana.
Neither driver taunted nor cursed the other upon that attack and they were both silent.
Kitana had her concentration on the Impreza whereas Mori****a had her concentration on the road; the wide, speed-tempting road. She (Masayo) tries to calm down and focus on the line that Katsushiro always used in his AE86 Levin.

Back at the parking area with Kyosuke and Daiki...

"So... what's your agenda this evening as to this battle?"
"You never change, do you Kyosuke? Only cars roam around in your mind, isn't it?"
"Well... you have to if you want to go pro. I'm training my group to be just that. It's what they need."
"I can't contradict your logic there." Daiki admits to Kyosuke.
"How's the team then?"
"Well, Hiroto and Reisuke are becoming the drivers I trained them to become; both are good role models at that too. Right now they're focusing on the correct form of drifting. They're not used to concentrating on just drifting but both are doing well. Katsushiro though is a problem; he keeps on insisting that he'll get better but I see not much improvement on his part. Masayo is different, she's improving after every battle I sent her to."
"Talk about proud accomplishments."
"WHY DIDN'T you go pro, Daiki?"
"Hmm?"
"You have the means, and the school to prove it. Why just limit yourself to this?"
"I'm still searching..."
"Searching?"
"For what I really enjoy about driving that might inspire me to become better and finally go pro."
"What? I don't get you."
"It's something that logical thinking wouldn't answer. I tried so, I know and I still couldn't find the answer to it. Perhaps I could find it if I well..."
"Enjoy it a little?" Kyosuke hypothesized with his right index finger and thumb on his chin.
"Enjoy? There's no fun in this."
"Maybe you haven't realized it within yourself, Akiyama. That's something Hiroto shared with me in one session." Kyosuke shared.
Their conversation was interrupted by Katsushiro who called the two enthusiasts concerning the race. Kyosuke took his phone from his leather pants and answered it. "Update?"
"Kyosuke-san, Masayo leads the MR-S. and they have passed 4 corners already."
"That's good be updated. Ask feedback from Hiroto and Reisuke as soon as they come upon their stations."
"Roger." Katsushiro hangs up after that command.
Daiki walks over to the guardrails and stares at the downhill horizon. He starts talking in his mind.
"So Kitana chases, huh?" He wondered then gave a small grin on his face. "Masayo just made things easier for her. Well, if Kitana could catch up that is. Power is exceptionally huge even if this is a downhill; Doushi-touge has a pretty basic area that hi-powered cars could dominate in as well. If Kitana masters this and beats her, I might have her final lesson in mind already." He thought.

During the battle with Masayo and Kitana, the Impreza just increased the gap two fold and is at the exit of one corner whereas Kitana just enters it. Kitana attempts to drift her car at one corner but realizes that she lost a tremendous amount of speed doing so. She grits her teeth upon her mistake and focuses back on the road. "Drifting, even if this is an MR, is a stupid thing to do here; since this MR-S is pure stock. Could I possibly catch up to an A-class Impreza?" Kitana wonders to herself.
Seeing how wide the pass is, is tempting Kitana to go full throttle.
At the tunnel... upon approaching a right hairpin, she enters one corner WITHOUT pressing on the brakes. She just simply lets go of the gas and turns the car as hard as she can. Being an MR, and susceptible to instant spinouts, the MR-S initiates an accel-off kansei [also known as inertial] drift at full speed. Countersteering to prevent a spinout, she was able to exit at an extremely fast speed of more than 100 km/h in a low-powered mid-ship roadster.

Kitana smiles in her seat upon accomplishing such a reckless move. "I like it this way. I'm not so sure if my mom would approve of this but... boy do I like it. Drifting rocks!!" Kitana utters to herself as she continues to speed downhill. Masayo feels relieved without the sight of the MR-S behind her yet she is still serious about the run.
"Kyosuke keeps telling me not to be relieved and just keep going until I finish the race."
She grips through the rest of the corners and reaches the reservoir point of the course.
Reisuke, waiting at the entrance to the reservoir, sees Masayo upon the corner's exit. He immediately calls Daiki and the rest via radio phone and tells the update, as soon as Masayo passes him. Before he could finish dialing, the MR-S is closing in, running at a much faster pace than Masayo's Impreza. "Nani!?" He freaked out as he nearly drops his phone, seeing the MR-S drive by.

Masayo exits the huge, high speed U-turn through the reservoire and looks at her rearview mirror only to be surprised of the comeback of the red MR-S. "H-huh?" Mori****a was in total shock. She couldn't believe that the underpowered MR-S kept up halfway. Kitana closes in on the Impreza and manages to get back on its tail.

Exiting another dim light tunnel, Masayo is pressured by the MR-S's close presence. Kitana on the other hand could somewhat predict behind her mind what Masayo would be doing. Normally, entering the inside is a good plan, but entering it at a completely safe speed is way to cautious and slow. Kitana decides to make use of the entire course to follow up her plan on overtaking Masayo. As they enter a mid-to-high speed right hander, Masayo brakes; since Kitana is right behind Masayo, she swerved to the left and decelerates to the right entry speed to gain ground.

Masayo entered too close to the inside that she nearly caused a mark between her Impreza and the guardrail. Kitana doesn't brake and enters the corner with full accleration, letting her car understeer beyond expectations. She continues to steer hard and manages to tie alongside the Impreza upon exit.

They only have to clear 2 more corners before they reach the goal. Masayo goes full throttle as well down the straight to position her car back at the front of the MR-S. Her attempt failed as they have reached the corner's entry point. They brake hard and Masayo does a classic 4WD tactic: the out-in-out. Kitana's entry though was a fatal mistake so she needs to improvise. She enters from the inside, veers towards the outside and re-enters the inside at a slower speed at the exit. "Tsk." She uttered. They're still side by side after that encounter and both girls are giving all they've got. As they enter the last, high speed corner, Masayo does what she never does before: use the grass as a rally terrain to gain ground.
"This way", she noted. "I'll be able to induce part of my car into a slight drift in order for me to gain even more oversteer." She was right, but she forgot one thing: Kitana. She mimics the out-in-out done by Masayo at the corner's entry and exits at a far faster pace than Masayo. Left behind, Masayo cuts her acceleration by half and lets Kitana speed onto the goal; 150 meters away.

Back atop...

Daiki saw a familiar looking car crawl onto the entrance of the Parking area. "Chloe?" He knew because it is a pink Porsche Boxster. Someone steps out of the car and gives a warm "Bonjour" to Daiki.

Kyosuke just ignores Daiki and listens to Hiroto's report, who happens to call on time. "Masayo lost at the last corner. The MR-S won." Kyosuke calmly puts his hand down and thinks about the result. "Looks like she has a long way to go. Masayo isn't fit enough to race students of the likes of Akiyama." Thinking about Daiki had him wondering where he is as he suddenly disappeared. "Daiki? Daiki?" He walks around the parking area then steps on a piece of paper lying on the ground.

Kyosuke reads it and wonders to himself what happens to that guy right after he saw that Porsche...

[10 minutes later, when Masayo, Kitana & the rest of Team Kansai returned...]

"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!????????????"

"Sorry, Kitana. You just missed him. He left right after your race. He told me to tell you to bring the car back to the school by Monday, till then, it's yours as a training car for the time being." Ryosuke explained.
"Bummer..." Reisuke noted. "Poor girl."
"Sunimasen-desuta." Masayo apologized.
"No need to apologize. You did well, Masayo. It is a good run. I'm actually proud you could last this long now." Kyosuke praised. "Who knows, sooner or later, you might end up as fast as Reisuke, Hiroto... or perhaps take me on."
"Ha...Hai!!" She exclaimed with full confidence.
"Let's go home. I'm beat." Hiroto insisted.
"Very well. We'll meet up at Akagi next week, same time."
"Good. Let's go, Masayo."
"Where to?"
"I'm giving you a treat to a fancy restaurant for your famous run!"
"Really!? Thanks, Katsushiro san!"
The Impreza, Levin, Trueno, FD, and FC left the area leaving Kitana all alone.
Kitana stood there, looking at the MR-S handed to her temporarily. She couldn't believe Daiki abandoned her at a crucial time as this. She never said a word, even as the lights begin to dim and die...




"Stupid night. I'm going home..."
 
- Chapter 8: Golden Age -

A week has passed, nothing much happened. Daiki did not expect much from Kitana by the time Day 2 of the Hands on lessons went underway. She wasn't able to go beyond what she could do and placed an overall 3rd by the end of the exhibition lap.

Daiki, has now been dating Chloe everyday. The only thing fishy about Daiki and Chloe meeting everyday of their lives is Chloe's side. It is very questionable. Only Naoko was able to wonder what it is. She's the only person whom Daiki shared Chloe to making her the only witness to this relationship yet making her question their relationship. At one instance, at a wednesay afternoon at the Beginner's course track...

"Tell me something Daiki." Naoko asked out of the blue.
"What is it about?" Daiki wondered in reply.
"What is it that Chloe does for a living? You've been seeing he- no... she's been seeing you after hours for many consecutive days now. Isn't it weird that she keeps on seeing you?"
"What? As in stalking me or something? Don't tell me you're jealous of her?"
"It's not that. She should at least not see you due to secular reasons. What's her job?"
"Ah... eh... you see... um..." Daiki staggers upon trying to answering that question.
"You don' know do you?" Naoko concludes.
"Of course I do!"
"Then tell me."
"She's... an... I mean... a waitress to a fancy french restaurant."
"A waitress, eh?"
"No... I mean... an Accountant?"
"Make up your mind already, Akiyama!" Naoko is getting very irritated with all of Daiki's ways of avoiding the question.
"OKay! I admit! I didn't ask her about it yet. But I'll try later."
"You're seeing her again?"
"Yeah. We've talked about it already."

Naoko walks away and just tells Daiki...

"Just don't forget to ask her okay? or else."
"O-okay. *I don't like the sound of it if she says 'or else'."
Daiki left the garage and Naoko and went for Chloe, who is waiting by the Hakone's entrance waiting area.

Boarding his stock-looking 350Z, Daiki drives off, leaving his racing school in Naoko's hands.

Kilometers away, by the brink of Hakone's pass an hour later, a race is commencing. A yellow old generation Porsche 911 is racing a carbon hooded panda Levin... no, a 2 toned 180SX type X. Drifting through the S curves beyond 138 km/h, the 911 closes in on the 180. While the 180 slides towards the outside on the following right hander, the Porsche driver smirks in his seat and presses fully on his accelerator. In a split second, the 911 overtook the 180 and doubled its pace, immediately making a gap of 8 car lengths and increasing.

The Porsche driver happens to be a foreigner, a south American. His name? Santana Swarovski. It may sound more central American than south American, if you ask me. He feels happy even after that quick battle. He doesn't despise his rivals, no matter how weak they are; he makes use of that moment to have a good time for himself.

"Where oh where could I find that new legend that everybody is talking about?" He uttered to himself. He is definitely talking about Daiki, that's for sure. Leaving the pass, he parks right next to a familiar looking white BNR34 and blue widebodied FD3S. They're no other than Raymond Yamazaki and Kazuhiko Aizawa.

The 2 racing specialist noticed the incoming Porsche. "Hmm? Do you know this guy?" Raymond wondered addressing it to Kazuhiko. "Don't ask me. The only sports car owner I know for sure is just Seiji." "This person could be another newbie." Raymond followed.
"I wouldn't call him a newbie if I were you." Kazuhiko warned him. "Take a look at that aura surrounding the 911." Kazuhiko said in a serious tone. The dark yellow aura is enormous. In fact, even if he is hiding it, Kazuhiko is slightly trembling over the 911's presence.

"What is this...? Why am I trembling? Is this driver... that good? Who's he after?" Kazuhiko thought to himself. The driver stepped out of the 911, revealing his identity to the 2 wangan experts. He fixes his light toned jacket upon standing and looks at the 2 other drivers.

"Pardon me for asking but do you know anyone driving a silver 4th generation Z?" Santana asked the two.
"Are you referring to Daiki Akiyama?" Raymond asked in return.
"You know Daiki?" Kazuhiko asked Raymond.
"Know him? I lost to him by a snitch." Raymond answered showing an L shape with his right hand. "He's Seiji's bitter rival. Seiji kept telling me stories about him as to how desperate he is in beating him." Kazuhiko shared.

"Do you know where he is?" Santana asked them again.
"Well..." Raymond was not sure of where he is. As for Kazuhiko, he listens fervently to the tone of an incoming car. He is pretty confident that it is a VQ35DETT. Only the 350Z holds such a V-type engine. "He's coming down." Kazuhiko said.
"Coming down?" the two wondered.
"THe 350Z is here." he answered as he points to the hilltop.

Following Daiki is Chloe's Porsche Boxster... make that, Chloe's RUF 3400S. It's an RUF not a Porsche in reference to the changed logo on the hood. They parked far away from where Santana, Raymond, and Kazuhiko parked their cars. Daiki, wearing a striped sleeve-folded shirt and contrasting slacks, steps out of his car and in a gentleman like manner, escorts Chloe, who is wearing a sleeveless blouse paired with a mid-length skirt and dark-toned stockings, out of her car.

"So, he has come."
"Looks like he's on a date."
"Doesn't matter." Santana uttered. "I want to race him real badly."

Santana leaves the two and walks over to the couple.

"So your job is a CEo of a French company here in Tokyo?"
"Yeah. I'm also the head model of our latest garments that we showcase in Tokyo's fashion magazines. Why do you ask, me amor?" Chloe asked.
"My colleague was curious. and asked it all of a sudden. Sorry if I have to ask."
"It's alright. If you need to know, just tell me. I'm all ears for you, my love." Chloe told Daiki as she wrapped her hands around his arm and giggled next to him.
Daiki and Santana's eyes met and they both gave each other the stern look. Chloe looked at Santana and was familiar with his face. She held Daiki's arm tighter and looks afraid.
"Why is he here?" She wondered.
"You know this guy?"
"He is my ex back at France. He's a good racer just like you."
"He is? Wait! How did you know that I race?"
"I'll explain later." Chloe staggered. "Right now, we have to leave."
"Wait!" Santana uttered. "Chloe!! Who is that guy you're with?"
"Don't you get it, Swarovski? We're through! Couldn't you get that through your head? Or weren't you listening when I told you that?" Chloe complained.
"You broke up with him?" Daiki asked her, who nodded in reply.
"He just won't quit after that. He's a good driver but there's something in you that isn't in him which I have been looking for in a guy..."
"Chloe... is this about that last race we had at Germany?"
"I lost to you, so what?"
"Didn't we have a deal that you're mine if I won?"
"Who says I am owned by somebody. I own myself. I don't belong to anyone else unless I said so, you arrogant fool."
Santana though is short tempered and couldn't take the insults he's hearing, even if it is from a girl. He charges for Chloe with a closed fist and is ready to punch her. "Take that back you whore!!"
Before the fist connects, Daiki held Santana's arm and stopped the carnage.
"I detest violence. Especially if it involves the woman I love."
Santana doesn't like Daiki very much, considering the fact that he is Chloe's boyfriend and that Chloe thinks that Santana is a nobody compared to Daiki.
"Alright then, how do you propose we settle this?"
Daiki took out his keys and the answer was clear. They race it up Hakone and back.
"Hmph. Glad to hear it. I was supposed to only come here to face you but I didn't expect that I'd meet up with my ex here, changing my plans." Santana told Daiki.
"What would it take you to get out of Chloe's hair?"
"Since you say so, here's the plan. I win, I take her back."
"Like I still love you... get over it Santana." Chloe comments from behind Daiki.
"And if I win, stay away from her, you got that?" Daiki demands.
"Fine. It's a deal." Santana said with an evil smile on his face.

Kazuhiko notices the car. It is a porsche but there's no Porsche logo anywhere. He looks at the badge... RUF. It is the same as Chloe's Boxster. He looks at the interior... there's a rollcage equipped. "What car is this then?" Kazuhiko wondered.
"An RUF yellowbird."
"Yellowbird?"
"A street version of the Porsche 911 turbo type before it even has its racing version. A formiddable car. Lightweight and powerful..." Raymond noted to Kazuhiko.
"If this is the car that Daiki is facing, then this would be interesting."

Santana boards his car and so does Daiki. The two left the parking area and proceeded down the O-turn at the lowest point of Hakone. They go on to a rolling start and blast off with Santana leading. Raymond and Kazuhiko approached Chloe. "So this is a battle of love, eh?" Kazuhiko thought out loud.
"The new versus the old. I wonder how this would go about." Raymond wondered.
Overhearing what the 2 men said triggered something in Chloe forcing her to board her Porsche and make chase after the 2 racers.

Daiki clings on to the CTR with all that his Z has down the short straight. The gap slowly increases even after they cleared a series of corners... A kilometer away, Chloe follows...
 
- Chapter 9: A Sense of Triumph -

The race commences a few hundred meters from where they started, with Santana leading the race. His Porsche 930 is well tuned and has the upperhand when it comes to acceleration. Daiki's 350Z isn't falling behind and clings on to the yellow CTR.

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Reaching the first corner leading to a sudden drop in elevation, Santana positions his Porshce perfectly on one lane, close enough to the sidewalk. Daiki goes over the sidewalk and lets his Z ride it, as if it is an elevated gutter. Santana didn't dare look at his rearview mirror. It's just the start of the race, even if he did just so, it wouldn't affect his driving... yet.

Daiki shows off a pretty angry face during his drive. A man approaching a woman with a closed fist is just too low. He couldn't take such insults, especially if it involved Chloe. "I'm gonna teach this guy a thing or two on handling a woman. This race might just be the thing." he thought. He shifts to gear 4 and balls of fire shoots out of his twin exhausts.

He did a couple of internal modifications to the VQ35DETT. He momentarily installed a supercharger on it for some secret reason. He is probably testing out the differences of a turbo, an NA, and a supercharged car. Passing through a couple of high speed S curves, he lets go of the gas and nudges his steering wheel to a certain angle, causing the rear to trip but not too much as to induce it to a drift.

Santana seems pretty confident about holding his lead against the Z. Daiki's Supercharged 350Z has 470 horsepower at the rearwheels whereas Santana has around 510 horsepower. A disadvantage at Hakone? I don't think so.

"A Porsche 911 is known for its high peak power and incredibly light and agile body. This framework is just perfect for the narrow and unpredictable roads of Hakone. Ever since I lost to Chloe back at Germany, I've practiced at Nurburgring Nordshiefder a couple of times just to perfect my driving. My car is close to a thousand kilograms now. Add that to the equation and I have the perfect rear wheel drive car for roads such as this. That guy does not stand a chance against this!!" He thought out loud in his seat as he shifts to gear 4 as well. The gears of his 911 are well set as well, for optimum acceleration.

"You have a pretty good car, Santana; is it?" Daiki thought to himself from behind. He just observed how the car reacts to each bump, elevation, and change in angle of the road. The 911 moves pretty smooth through such roads. It's a good car. A well tuned one at that.

From behind, Chloe carefully maneuvers her Boxster through the treacherous corners of Hakone's pass. She feels uneasy as she imagines bad things that might happen to Daiki if ever he pushes himself over his limits. As her Boxster hits the change in elevation, the springs came into play along with the shocks to absorb the sudden jolt. Her Boxster may be tuned but she isn't the type who would go in the way of making it a racing machine; she just wants enough power from the Boxer Engine to get her to where she wants. She shivers as she shifts to gear 3; a smooth upshift with no backfiring sounds. She really cannot take the pressure that the two are having. "Don't overdo it Daiki..."

Through a long right corner, Daiki does it again and rides the sidewalk to get more of the apex in comparison to Santana.

daikivssantana1.jpg


"The gears of his 911 looks as if it is aimed for acceleration. Not a bad setup. Santana, you may be the charismatic type of driver, yeah?" He rhetorically asked him from his seat. "Only somebody with that much devotion and willpower to tune the car perfectly for a place such as this. You have my praise as a driver of your calibur." Daiki smirks in his seat noticing the difference between their tuning preferences. "There's only one part in your car that you overlook. The suspension setting is quite low compared to my Z. And your camber angles seem to be a bit off. Are you trying to lessen the chances of too much oversteer?" he thought once again. He is being all cool and calm of the race as he knows that his setup is far superior. He changed the hardness of the springs and changed the shocks of the car. Daiki maintains the camber and toe angles of the car to be close to the default setting, but it didn't mean that the handling response is inferior to the 911...

Upon reaching one of the tightest corners of Hakone, Santana and Daiki brake at the exact moment; well, not exactlyat the exact moment. By the time Santana brakes, Daiki leaves a third of a second before he brakes, thus bringing the gap to a bumper to bumper status.

daikivssantana2.jpg


By the time they exit that corner, flawlessly nailing the apex at speeds beyond 100 km/h, Santana pulls away easily, thanks to his transmission setup of his Porsche 911. Daiki's Z faltered a bit upon the corner's exit and made his attempt to minimize the gap, well, a failure.

daikivssantana3.jpg


They make another aproach upon a series of S curves, a lot of them in succession. Down one corner, both Daiki and Santana rode the nylon-like canal; only Daiki's Z is closer to the gras
s.
daikivssantana4.jpg


Santana, still didn't lose concentration. Yes, the Z is still behind him up close but his 911's tachometer reading is at the high RPM range, giving him a stalemate advantage. He can make Daiki attack closer but the gap will remain constant through the turn.

They cleared the rest of the S curves, later on without a scratch and passes by the flat bridge with the 911 still leading. Daiki isn't pressured to the fact of 'how could I close in more and maintain it?' impression on the race.

daikivssantana5.jpg


Past the bridge, is a long stretch of road in front of them. Daiki does a standard Wangan-based attack against Santana which is none other than the Slipstream attack. His Z, which is inferior to the 911 in terms of acceleration is gaining more speed compared to the 911. And because this is a straightway, Santana has the ease to look at his rearview mirror. Only, the image behind him isn't that relaxing to see - the Z closing in behind him.

daikivssantana6.jpg


"H-how in the world!?" He is starting to panic.
This didn't 'paralyze' Santana's driving, however. Furthermore, it doubled his force on the pedals and the steering wheel, making the 911 run faster than before. Through one corner, Daiki miscalculated his corner entry and entered the corner slower than Santana; he countered this flaw by getting as close to the inside as possible.

daikivssantana7.jpg


After a series of more corners, Daiki managed to minimize the gap once again; at corners where Santana brakes a lot, Daiki brakes fully on one corner and releases his gas on the others, if ever his speed seems too high. As soon as they reach another straightway, Daiki & Santana shifted gears - a perfect shift with no backfiring sounds.

daikivssantana8.jpg


Back with the two other racing specialists, Raymond Yamazaki and Kazuhiko Aizawa, they analyze the condition of the race in their own background...

"You sure that Daiki can win against an RUF CTR?" Kazuhiko wondered.
"Well... There are possibilities. The last time I battled his Z, it was turbo charged. This time, it doesn't sound like a turbo at all. It sounds different." Raymond concluded.
"Did he remove his turbo?"
"Possibly. A turbo has that hissing sound when it reaches its optimum rev and the driver shifts gears. This sounds way different; and I am telling you as early as now that it isn't a Naturally Aspirated Z either."
"Supercharged perhaps?"
"Maybe. A Z is equippable with a Supercharger." Raymond theorized.
"The only advantage of a supercharger, especially in a course like this", Kazuhiko thought out loud. "... Is that Corner response is better and power is directly gained from the crankshaft, unlike a turbo car that needs the turbine to spin and gain as much air as possible to unleash power. Even if his Z is underpowered in comparison to the CTR, the race may still be a deadbeat at that context."
"I can't argue with you on that."
Kazuhiko closed his eyes and listens to the sounds of the CTR & the 350Z.
"They're not too far from each other; as of now."
"So the race is still tied, then?"

Reaching the uphill section, Daiki is gaining as he rockets to the side of the CTR.

daikivssantana9.jpg

daikivssantana10.jpg


As soon as the elevation changes to the steepest point of Hakone, The Z is not gaining as much speed as a while ago, giving Santana's 911 a chance to escape from the Z. Daiki attempts another slipstream attack midway through the uphill to limit the gap and escapes through the right side of the 911 as soon as they reach the very peak of the pass.
daikivssantana11.jpg


Because of the many corners of the pass, it is natural for a car to lose its traction by the time they reach a quarter of the remaining pass. Through one corner, Santana executes a wonderfully timed out in out attack with one problem: his rear tripped and understeered further, causing him to veer off course.

daikivssantana13.jpg


"Oh, Shi-!" Santana cursed as he removes his foot off the gas to bring his car back to its usual lane. Daiki saw this and was proud to have done a test between a turbo, NA, and supercharger. His car's front tires did not give in that much in comparison to the 911. He, frankly, did more grip attacks than drifts, which Santana did very well in relation to the latter. Although the corner was a wide right, Santana quickly regained his lane and forces his 911 to cover the 350Z's lane.
"Oh no you don't!!" He shouted in his car as he forcibly turns the wheel to the right.
Daiki wasn't concentrating on Santana's incoming 911; he was more focused on the road. Right at the very end of the right corner immediately comes a low speed left corner with half of its radius.

daikivssantana12.jpg


When Santana saw this, it was too late. He knew the upcoming corner but subconsciously, his hands are still aiming for the right. He stomped on the brakes and tries to turn as hard as he can to the left. Daiki braked early to give both Santana the slip and to avoid a collision. He enters the inner lane beautifully and goes side by side with the 911 by the end of the left corner uphill.

daikivssantana14.jpg


At the exit, Daiki had more speed and accelerating power in contrast to Santana, who had his car on the lower powerband at gear 4 - bad move. Daiki, who had his car at 5000 rpm on gear 3, stomps on the gas, causing his Z to push forward, as if it is a turbocharged car. He positions his car right in front of the 911, thus concluding the race. Once he is in the lead, Daiki will just keep pulling furhter and further. Santana never bothered to act dumb and try to regain the lead where there is just a third of a kilometer from the goal.

[Minutes later...]

Daiki & Santana waited for Chloe to arrive in her Boxster. They both knew that she was spectating the race from behind. The only sarcastic thing about her action is that she was 3 minutes late in comparison to their overall time.
Chloe steps off the car and has her left hand on her chest, as she looks at Daiki.

Looking at his Z and knowing that she is looking directly at him, he rose his head with a smile and said...
"I won... for you..."
Thinking about it, it is a very dangerous match. Two high-powered cars racing at a place as narrow and tricky as Hakone. Chloe showed off her happiest smile and frolics over to Daiki. As soon as she is a few feet away, she jumps hoping that Daiki would catch her, which he actually did.

Santana, standing at the side, looks at Chloe's face seeing that she is happier when she is with Daiki rather than him. "No wonder she chose you." He uttered, which caught Daiki's complete attention.
When the couple got on their feet, Daiki was about to ask why.
"You are one unpredictable guy, Daiki. I knew from the very start that you are quite as talented as the rumors say they are. In fact, it is the only reason why I came to Hakone in the first place. I wanted to race you; just you and I. I just didn't expect to see Chloe with you which complicated things quite a bit."
"Santana..." Chloe softly thought out loud.
The defeated 911 driver walks over to Chloe and tells her, "You are very fortunate. To have met such a man as him. Do not do anything that would ruin your relationship. I bless you for that, my dear." Santana said with a concerned smile. Chloe, knowing that Santana admits total defeat and isn't acting like a child over it, smiles and gives him one last hug.

Santana faces Daiki afterwards. "Don't make her cry or anything, alright?" He told him. Daiki nods in agreement and never spoke a word.

Getting his coat, hanging by his seat and wearing it, Santana leaves with a few words. "I have admitted defeat. Daiki, it's been fun battling you. Let's race again sometime; in the Wangan if I ever return."
"I will be looking forward to that day, Santana Swarovski." Daiki agreed with a smile.
He rose his fist and shouts out to the couple "AU REVOIR!!"
Shifting to gear 1, he pounds on the gas one last time and causes a huge burnout while executing a 570 circular drift.

Chloe runs up to the burnout point and watches Santana, her ex-suitor, leave with pride and honor. Daiki glances at Chloe, who didn't know that he is looking at her, and thought to himself...

"I swear, by my honor, I won't do anything that would soil my relationship with her. I won't make her cry. I swear it."
 
- Chapter 10: Knowledge of the Heart -

Months have passed ever since that last battle between Daiki and Santana at Hakone. Daiki's rebirth began at near-mid April, in the middle of spring. Now, it is October 10 in Tokyo. It's been a while since trees kept shedding their leaves off. The color and scent of Autumn is in the air. It's quite troublesome though for drivers, especially those in the touge; they couldn't drive like they used to because of the falling leaves... who knows what could happen.

At the Akiyama Racing School, things are going on as usual. Daiki, even, trained his students the proper way of driving and racing through leafy roads. But, for now, it is Naoko teaching the principles.

Where's Daiki? Well, he's in his room; at his private mansion a 2 and a half kilomteres away from the school. He's still asleep and it is already 11 in the morning. All his clothes are scattered in the place. For some mysterious reason, Chloe's watch is lying next to his watch, but there is no sign of Chloe anywhere. She must have left it or something...

Daiki is still dreaming of that last battle. His 350Z against Santana's RUF CTR Yellowbird. He knows something is different about that race. He realized that he drove at a much higher pace in comparison to the previous battles: against Shin and Raymond Yamazaki. Was it something significant? It may seem that way. It was because the race involved Chloe - whoever wins that battle at Hakone gets to win Chloe's heart for real; and Daiki proved himself worthy over Chloe's ex boyfriend, Santana. He has been doubting his feelings for Chloe, even though they have been seeing each other for the past 5 months. Kitana, one of his students, though doesn't know this relationship... yet; but, Naoko has a pretty good feeling and is only hoping in the sidelines that He'd forget Chloe soon enough and come rushing to her. Well, that's just Naoko's dream between Daiki and her.

He slowly opens his eyes, seeing the bright morning sun greet him. The window was open, thus he could hear the chirping of the birds. Daiki's hair is all messed up, and he has that spaced out look momentarily with his eyes half open. He looks around his horizon seeing his clothes from last night crippled and lying on the velvet, grey floor. He gives off a huge yawn and stands up, heading towards the bathroom.

Opening the faucet, he gathers a handful of water and wets his face. As soon as his vision clears up, he grabs a face towel, hanging next to his bath robe and heads back to his room. He looks at the side to see Chloe's watch lying next to his watch and cellular phone - a black Nokia N86. He looks at it with a sloppy face and at the back of his head, he sees Chloe, with a black background, smiling at him. He extends his hand and picks up the watch, looking at it intimately as if there is something in it that he wants to see.

"I guess, I should ask her out formally... on a date."

[October 9, 2004... Akiyama Racing School... 2:45 p.m.]

The students are all going about in their advance tuning class - modifying their personal vehicles for the upcoming exhibition match at TWin Ring Motegi. Even Kitana was psyched about this, despite the fact that the car she is using is not her red Lamborghini Diablo VT. She wore a smile on her face as she changes the suspension setup with a couple of her classmates. The good news about her is that she was able to catch up to the program, thanks to Daiki. Naoko and a couple of the other staff members are supervising the students, making sure they don't do any reckless setups or stupid ones at that.

Naoko, standing next to the Garage's main door, looks around with a serious face. She ties her hair to a half pigtail and continues to supervise until a 350Z parks right at the Garage's entrance. The Z though did not enter. Only the driver entered the premises as he got out of the Z and closed the door. He is none other than Daiki himself. Normally, sessions such as this would end up with Daiki not showing up at all. This seems different.

"Daiki. I thought you are not going to show up today." Naoko thought.
"I have something to ask of you, Naoko." Daiki told her straightforward.
Naoko's heart thumps in angst. This might be going her way or not but she has a very strong feeling that it is.
"Have you been on a date before?" He asked her which made Naoko lose balance and nearly fall on her knees onto direct pavement. She had her head down in surprise. Daiki thinks otherwise and wonders what it is all about.
She immediately rose her head and said a short selfish prayer "Oh Thank you lord for giving me this blessing that I have been waiting for my entire life!"
"Naoko?"
"Oh!" She rose up immediately and briskly fixed herself up. "I do. I have been asked out my some before I started working."
"Really? Tell me, what should I do?"
"You're asking coz you didn't have a date in your entire life, have you Daiki?"
"Why? Is there something wrong about me asking somebody on dating tips?"
"Why don't you try the rest of the male staff of your school?"
"You're the only one I am closely associated with, Naoko."

Those words really lifted Naoko's spirits and was sent walking on clouds. She has not felt this sort of happiness ever out of Daiki. "closely associated... the only one... oh, wow those words have touched me!!" She thought in her mind.
"Um..."
"Alright!! Here's what you do!!"

As Naoko keeps telling Daiki what to do on a date, at the back of her mind, she thinks: "Yes! I know where this is going! Because this is very first date with me, he wants everything to be perfect! The Ambiance, the music, the moment, everything!! He's doing all this; going through the most embarrassing of moments to please me. What a man you are, Daiki. You're amazing!!" Naoko thought in her mind.

But for Daiki...
"Wow. Naoko knows a lot on dating. This way, I can give Chloe the most flawless date that she ever had. I'll be able to get to know her even more; dig deeper into her personal information and love every bit of it. I never felt this way over a woman before and she's my very first to know if what I am doing is right. I will win her heart with this."

From afar, Kitana notices Daiki talking to Naoko. Her eyes flashed with confidence and has a plan of approaching her Daiki-sempai for questions in order to get closer to him. While they talk, Kitana formulates a scene in her mind.

After 10 minutes worth of Dating 101, Naoko's attention diverted when a couple of students, working on a Subaru Aclyone SVX called her attention in terms of which suspension settings would best suit a NA 4WD car such as this. As for Daiki, he rushes to his 350Z, which is by the way refitted with a 3rd stage Turbo kit and a new suspension kit courtesy of Opera Performance and Nismo, and drives off to accomplish all that he needs to do for his big date with Chloe.

By the time Naoko is done talking with the student, she turns to Daiki to check if he has known enough for that date. "So, Daiki. Is that okay with..." But when she turned around to find nothing. "W-where'd he go?" She kept on thinking where until it hit her. "Oh..." A picture of Chloe flashed in her mind. "So he asked just to taker HER out..." She turned very pale upon realizing that fact. "Boy was I stupid to fall for something so primitive..." she said in a pale tone talking to herself.

Kitana makes her move and rushes to where Naoko stands idly. "W-here's sempai Daiki, Naoko-sama?" She honestly asks. In a slow movement, Naoko whispers where Daiki headed off to. A gust of wind passes by the two girls. Kitana stood the same way as Naoko right after. "We were too late..." they both moaned.

Daiki ran off to every restaurant he could find which can accomodate a week-early reservation for two and inquired to each and every one. He did the same thing with the Tokyo Amusement Park, the flower shops, movie theatres, Operas, etc. - All forms of entertainment that is suited for a romantic day.

By the time the sun sets, he stopped his car on the Aqualine Bridge. He notices as the sun sinks onto Tokyo Bay. Then it hit him. "This place is a perfect place to end the date rather than a crowded area like the Daikoku Futo... This place is perfect." He boards his 350Z and drives off. While on the straight leading to the Tokyo commercial district, he plans to call Chloe.

At a certain building near the Tokyo Tower district, Chloe sits on her office chair, with nothing to do. Wearing standard business attire, a bluish-white long sleeve blouse with bristles in the middle of the blouse and a tight thighed skirt going down all the way to her knees, she slouches on her seat. "Agh! This is boring! Well, the famous Tokyo Tower is just a walk away, I guess I'll just catch some air there first. At least it is more exciting and amusing than this place that they call an office." She thought aloud with a pouting face.

She calmly walks towards the elevator, only to be stopped by a colleague. "Ma'am CEO. Where are you heading to?" the man in a formal outfit, carrying papers, asked her. "Um...ba...ba...bathroom." She thought aloud again. From there, the guy just kept walking. Chloe gave a huge sigh and goes out of the building. She prefers the windy weather outside rather than the chilly office she's assigned to. She stretches her arms high and removes a button or two from her top, which nearly exposes her brassiere but isn't that obvious, and walks over to the Tokyo Tower elevator to see the view.

As soon as she got the obeserving the lounge, her phone rings at the same time. The pink phone she owns has a key chain of a chibi version of Daiki and herself cheek to cheek. It is pretty obvious that she too has feelings for the young racer. She answers it with a very eloquent "Bonjour".
"Chloe. It's me."
"Daiki? What are you doing calling me at this very moment?"
"I was going to ask you that. Isn't it that your office sounds more... quiet? I can hear a lot of people there."
She starts to panic. "Um... no! That's just my laptop. I'm working on a video project for the company you see..." she faked.
"I see." Daiki might have said that but he knows that she's lying. Her voice says it all.
"What about you, cherie?"
"I don't have work today. I gave myself the day off for once. Anyway..." He said before gulping.
"Hm?"
"Are you free next Friday?"
"That's what day again?"
"The fifteenth."
"Well... (I have a job on that day but I can't turn him down at a wonderful moment such as this...)"
"I want to ask you out..."
Chloe's heart thumped faster and faster and immediately told him.
"Sure!! I am free on that day. What time?"
"Around 9 in the morning at the Shibuya station. Is it alright?"
"Okay. So I'll see you on the 15th then..."
"It's a date!" Daiki finished.
"I'll be looking forward to that Daiki." She said with a sound of her kiss on the phone to finish the conversation.

Daiki closes his phone and breaks into joy. How? He stomps on the gas all of a sudden causing the car to lean forward, the revvs of both the turbo gauge and the tachometer to jump, and it causes a boom out of the exhaust once again. From 120 km/h, he blasts to a 259 km/h speed all of a sudden. From afar, Seiji just got out of work and cruises down the Wangan at 75 km/h only to have his concentration broken by Daiki's bullet-fast Z pass him by from his left.

"N-nandatoo!?" He shouted.
He looks at the car before he loses vision of it.
"A Z!?... Akiyama..."
He lowers his head and shows an evil grin.


"I finally found you!"


[OCTOBER 15 2004, SHIBUYA STATION...]


Daiki, wearing his rarely used light lavender-sky blue colored, long sleeve shirt, paired with a velvet dark blue tie that matches his navy blue slacks and brown, well polished shoes. He covers his top with a navy blue coat, that blends well with his pants. He shows out a list of things that he grabbed from the internet; a list of things to remember when on a date. This is his first time doing this so he has to be well prepared.
"French types, in general, are well peculiar about their dates. I have to show her that I am no so-so type of guy."
He starts reading the paper once more. Before he does so, he looks at his watch; a Bentley Branded silver coated sports watch. 8:28 a.m. He has half an hour to review. The wind is slowly catching around Tokyo, so Daiki won't have to fear of sweating needlessly.

"So... good thing I didn't go for any loud areas or something like that." he thought. He continues to read further.




"Well... that cancels out the cinema, the musical, and the morning breakfast at some place fancy... Better cancel those out." He calls the 3 areas that he made reservations for and cancels it, demanding not to be charged... even for just merely reserving.

Daiki continues to browse and concludes the following advices:
Choose activities involving both doing something together where you exert effort but not to the point of profusely sweating, Save the formal stuff last (especially dinner), Loosen up & relax, Be in the public eye (at least)...
"With these resolutions, and my reservations... the only places I could go are..." he told himself as he takes out another piece of paper...
  • MOVIES X
  • Breakfast at a coffee shop
  • CLUB X
  • ORCHESTRA MUSICAL X
  • CHOCOLATE SHOP
  • CARNIVAL
  • FAST FOOD LOUNGE FOR LUNCH
  • SPORTS GAME X
  • Dinner at Reserved Restaurant
"... 5 of 9 places would be nice..." Daiki thought.
" I totally agree with you on that." a girl's voice said behind Daiki.
"Really, because I think..." He said as he turned around. He choked on his words when he saw Chloe glancing at the paper. He quickly hides the piece of paper and withdraws a bit from her, to daze at her beauty...

(Music: The Corrs - What can I do)

Chloe is wearing something, not what I call typical but, matching. What she is wearing looks to be a set dress, and it well defines her as a French girl in a Japanese environment: The classic aqua colored french hat, like that of painters, paired with a half body, soft material coat of the same color and a skirt that goes 3/4 way down her upper leg and is darker than her top. Chloe blushes on a bit of light cover up, darkened eye lashes and finishes it off with a touch of a rose-toned gloss on her lips. She looks absolutely beautiful, especially in Daiki's eyes.

"Y...you look fantastic." He said, all red.
"...Why thank you. You look good yourself, Daiki." She chuckled with a smile as she observed Daiki's outfit. "You look more like a man in those clothes."
"Same with you, Chloe." He said. "Your outfit goes well with your eyes."
Chloe smiled back at him.

They just stared at each other for the moment, cherishing the beauty of the morning sun. Chloe breaks the sentimental yet happy moment by asking Daiki. "So, what plans do you have for me today?"
"So, have you eaten already?" He asked her.
"Well... I was busy so much with fixing myself up that I didn't."
"Let's start this date, shall we?" He asks extending his left hand out to her, as if he's asking her out for a dance on the dance floor. Chloe, willingly takes his hand and they walk towards his well & newly cleaned 350Z just around the corner.

"Wow. It looks the same months ago, since we went to that pass, eh?" Chloe asked Daiki. "Yeah. I still remember that time. I know this good place just a few blocks away that serves the best breakfast items."
"I'll see if what you say is true..." She sarcastically contradicts him as she gets on the passenger seat, well escorted by none other than Daiki himself.
Daiki slowly ignites the car and shifts to gear 1, letting the idle movement kick in and slowly bring the Z up to speed onto the intersection.


[Coffee Shop/Bistro - 9:16 a.m.]

"I have to say, Daiki. You were not kidding when you said that they serve good food here." Chloe complimented. "They even have my favorite French item here: Fruits galore Crepe with light strawberry sauce and chocolate. It really reminds me of home so much."
"I'm glad you like it. Even their coffee is well brewed. And I rarely go to this place because of my job."
"It must be hard to manage a driving school, huh?"
"I was trained hard by my parents."
"Where are they, by the way?"
"Overseas at the moment."
"Oh, that's too bad. And here I was wanting to meet them." Chloe said in a pale undertone.
"When they come back, I will... introduce you to them. They'll be glad to meet you."
Chloe gives her heart-assuring smile once again.

(Music: Stevie Wonder & Cast - Seasons of Love)
As they continue about their date, going to various places, they continue to talk.
"How'd you know I like desserts so much?" Chloe asks as they browse around a nearby Chocolate shop.
"Well..." Daiki said as he gets his words together, hoping that it is a successful punch line. "Because I can tell that since these are all sweet... I know that you too are a sweet person."
She felt uneasy, in a good way, hearing that from Daiki. She crosses her legs and plays with her fingers, trying to avoid eye to eye contact with him, blusing so hard like a red tomato.

At the carnival, Chloe has her eyes on a cute rabbit doll with a box, shaped like a heart, hanging by its teeth with the words I LOVE YOU on it. Daiki looks at the same doll and decides to get it for her. It is an archery booth and Daiki has 3 shots at this for 400 yen a set shot. At his first hit, he nearly got the bulls eye and nails it at the second try. He hands it to Chloe and she was so happy. They got on to different rides together including the bumper cars, the roller coaster; where Daiki had a sudden seisure right after, and the large Ferris Wheel. There weren't many people out at this time but it is composed of families and couples all around. The place isn't that noisy nor crowded - a good ambiance for a date.

"Are rabbits your favorite animals?" He asked.
"Well... second to that. I like poodles. They are so furry and cute to handle. And I like horses too."
"I know what you mean."
"You like poodles too?"
"A little. Especially whenever I am alone at the park during my days off."
"Do you hang out with your peers or staff?"
"Rarely. Most of the time, I am at the office arranging papers or negotiating with clients and consulting teams also."
"That sounds hectic but at the same time exhilirating, is it?" Chloe asked.
"I dunno. I never thought about it that way. I was too serious most of the time. It was how I was brought up."
Chloe lowered her smile but not to a point that it was a frown. She shows a sign of empathy.
"But today is different. I want to smile at least for the very rest of the day with you." Daiki confidently said.

Out of the blue, Choe kisses Daiki on the cheek. Daiki blushes immensely from that sudden 'attack'.
"Hope that helps you smile to your hearts content." Chloe assured.

They had lunch later at a Fast Food lounge near the Carnival. They didn't order anything fancy. Just stuff that is available and delicious is enough for them. When they had enough of the carnival; well, Chloe insisted and is anxious about the next venue. "You like horses right?"

Right after the carnival, they went to a huge petting zoo with a booth that allows you to ride the horses at an open field located at the outskirts of Tokyo. The time when they went there is around at 3:45 p.m. Chloe rode on a well bred mustang while Daiki rode on a ferocious looking stallion that had a serious look on its face. Daiki tossled and turned on his seat but held on until the end. Chloe laughed at his hair as it was messed up right after. They looked at the other animals and continued to talk about each other and what the place offers.

By the time Daiki and Chloe are angst for dinner, they headed back to Tokyo to a fancy but not fine-dining but a family semi-casual restaurant. They served some wine, which was optional on their menu, ordered something they can have together: A classic dish of Spaghetti Bolognese with some Caesar Salad on the side which is both good for two. Chloe decided to make things interesting...

"I challenge you, Daiki."
"Me? On what?"
"Let's see who can finish this dish." She said pointing at the Spaghetti.
"Okay. Anything on the line?"
"Nope. Just for the heck of it."
Daiki remembers to let the girls do what they want at certain moments and plays along.
They won't take portions off the plate. They'll eat from the same plate without touching the plate itself. I think you know where this is going...

When they reach one long strand of pasta, they started slurping at the same time until...
It looks like they are slurping on the same strand. Daiki was blushing as Chloe gave an intimidating smile. Daiki is being pulled to Chloe through the slurping but he refuses to give in. He slurps the pasta back. Until there is a small strand standing in between them before they end up kissing each other lip to lip.

He looks at Chloe's shining blue eyes and from the sudden shock in his heart, he ended up biting on the pasta, letting Chloe slurp the win. She laughed as she reclines on her seat and shouts out to Daiki. "Ha! I am the winner!!" A sweatdrop drips down Daiki's side. "What the hell was that? Yeah, we're on a date but I didn't expect that to happen..." He thought to himself.

When they billed out and left the venue, they got on the Z and went on their way down the Metropolitan. Daiki wishes to drop her off at her place but...
"Um... Daiki-san..." Chloe said on an unsure tone.
"Yeah?" Daiki said as he glances at Chloe while driving, softly pressing on the gas.
"There's someplace that I want to go..."
"Where could that be?"

(Music: Tatsuya Ishii - River [Gundam Seed OST])

As they enter the Aqualine bridge, Chloe points to the parking area of the Aqualine, a few kilometers ahead.
Daiki slowly brings the car up to the parking area, as Chloe wished. He parks right next to the bank of the area, pressing the gas hard once to bring the car to hiss its turbo off. They both stepped out of the Z and Chloe rushed to the view of Tokyo Bay and the Neon lights reflecting on the water surface.

"I always loved to go here..." Chloe thought aloud.
"You never been on the Aqualine?"
"It's not that. The only time I get to see this is in the morning. I always wanted to know what it looks like at night. Now I know... and it's... kawaii"
"Not exactly a work of art..."
"What is?"
"the moon reflecting on the surface..."
"But I think..."
"Along with the sight of the Neon lights also reflecting... it is a work of art..." He said as he looks at Chloe. "Were you saying something? I'm sorry."
"Oh, no. You actually got the words right out of my mouth."

A gust of light wind blasts by softly around Daiki and Chloe and she showed signs of shivering. "Brr... the winds at night sure are cold." she said as she held her arms. Daiki caressed Chloe by layering his coat on her fixing it up with his hands, making Chloe put her arms down as Daiki's touches it. Chloe blushes and feels the warmth of Daiki's coat enveloping her. "Thanks." Chloe softly said to him.
"You're welcome."


They stayed that way as they looked at the neon nights, a shooting star that passes by, and a quick fireworks display later on. It was a beautiful way to end their first date: a sight seeing beauty of the Aqualine Bridge's scenery.

Daiki had a feeling that their date is about to end forcibly...
He senses a presence of another driver about...
A driver that spent most of his time on the wangan searching for him.
"I've found you..."
"AKIYAMA DAIKI..." A voice said from behind.

Who is it?
Daiki turns around, leaving Chloe for a short moment.
Chloe noticed this immediately and went to Daiki.
"Finally, all my time searching for you has paid off." The voice said.
Daiki's face suddenly became serious. He knew who it is by the time the guy starts to talk.
"It's you isn't it?"

The Man turns on the lights of his car: A Silver Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution 8 MR. The man, wearing a red jacket and brown cargo pants steps out of his car and leans on the side of the door. He crosses his arms and faces Daiki. Chloe feels uneasy with the situation and wraps her arms around Daiki's left arm, all scared as she too can sense the ferocious aura engulfing the driver and his car.
"Glad You remember me..."

The lights in the middle of the parking area start to light up one by one from the front of the Evo 8 right until it reaches the guy's place. The bright yellow light reveals the person's identity to Chloe and Daiki.

Seiji Tsuchiya.
 
- Chapter 11: Untimely Rendezvous -

The once quiet environment of the Aqualine is starting to revolve around an ominous glare. Seiji Tsuchiya appears at the most unexpected of moments, when Daiki and Chloe are intimately together. Their romantic and quiet date is interrupted just because of one driver's persistence and pride as a shutoku warrior.

"Who's he, Daiki-kun?" Chloe asked softly.
"A once made rival of mine..."
"A rival?"
"I defeated him easily on our first encounter... After the race, he looked at me with a stern reaction in his eyes." Daiki explained.

Daiki looks at Seiji's eyes. He could see a flare, immensely burning at his pupil and it is consuming his entire body - something that only Daiki could relate with and see.

"I've finally found you, Akiyama Daiki."

"What is this about, Seiji?"

"Don't play dumb with me. People as yourself should know what happens when 2 drivers come face to face on the Shutoku at a night such as this. I've come..." Seiji's words were cut short when he takes out his alarm and activates it. "...for my revenge."

"Is this because of that loss?"

"What else is there for me to despise you?"

"I don't understand it, Daiki-kun. Why does this person hate you so much?" Chloe wondered.
"Are you ready for an explanation, Chloe my dear?" Daiki asked first.
"I'm all ears." She said with confidence.
"Well..."

A Silver Evolution 8 has defeated another rival car on the C1, entering the edobashi district. Upon entering the right turn towards the Rainbow Bridge, He stumbles across the arrival of a Silver 350Z which has that stock body kit. When the Z flashed its lights at the Evo 8, the Evol increases its pace and attempts to pull away from the Z. Entering a left high speed corner right after the bridge, the Evo 8 skids a bit on the outside due to too much battling before this one; he has faced an Impreza GC8, Mazda Cosmo, and a 240SX Nissan beforehand. The Z slowly gets closer and closer to the inner wall. They were Side by Side all throughout the road since then. The Z slows its pace down and positions right behind the Evolution - it gained more speed afterwards via slipstream method. By the time they reach the sudden S curve and hillclimb that is soon leading to a downhill, the Z gains more ground than the Evo with the race ending with the Z overtaking and outrunning the Evo 8...

"...and that is about it, love." Daiki told Chloe.

"Wow. So you beat him hands down?" Chloe asked in awe.

"Are you done, Akiyama?" Seiji is starting to get pissed. "You know the reason why I am here."
"Yeah, yeah I heard you." Daiki said as he cleans his ears with his pinky finger which looks like an insult to Seiji. He starts to get angry up to the point of shouting at Daiki. "You little..." Before Daiki nor Seiji could even say a word, Seiji heard a couple of cars coming up fast on the Aqualine...

He runs to the edge of the parking area to see what cars are they as one is very familiar to Seiji. "Let's get out of here Seiji and..." Daiki wasn't listening to Chloe. Even he went to where Seiji is to see who it is. One of the cars is also familiar to his tone as well.

Afar, they saw a white car and a blue car coming down on the Aqualine fast, as if passing the 290 km/h mark and counting up. When the cars were clear enough to be distinguished, Seiji and Daiki are surprised to see what models they were!

A white Nissan Skyline BNR34 GT-R V-spec II N1 dressed to look like the Mines' BNR34, only it has the Nismo R tune carbon bonnet, a GT wing, and the Spec II front bumper with the R logo removed and is equipped with the Volk TE37 Six spoke silver toned rims. Next to it... well a bit infront of it, leading the race is a blue Mazda FD3S RX-7 R1. The FD is dressed with a Defender Body kit. The car looks menacing... both of them do. The FD, though looks more like a sleeper as its lights are just halfway open. They are past the 300 km/h mark and still at it. Both Daiki and Seiji chased towards the other side of the parking area to see who is leading. Up close, the R34 is gaining ground and is close to overtaking the FD. By the time that the R34 has reached the limit of its fifth gear, it has positioned itself directly infront of the FD. As soon as he did that, the driver inside the R34 grinned happily as he shifts to gear 6. The car lost a certain amount of momentum and pulls back right infront of the FD which is close to the R34's rear by the way. The FD driver removes his foot off the gas momentarily and allows a safe margin between both vehicles. They retain a speed of 298 km/h from that point and are slowly gaining more speed...

"Kazuhiko..." Seiji uttered.
"Yamazaki... Raymond..."

"Looks like we are not the only ones who are eager to race today..." Seiji said looking at Daiki with that serious face. "I can hardly say the same thing about the said matter too, Seiji." Daiki said showing the same face too.

As they face each other, a gust of soft wind passes by them and at the same moment, they heard a pair of tires screeching from afar but not too far from where they are.

(minutes later...)

Daiki, who is with Chloe stands next to the Z as Seiji stands next to the entrance of the Parking area awaiting the arrival of the two cars. He can tell by ear that the drivers have settled their race and are now entering the Aqualine Bridge Hotspot to talk it out.

Seiji walks away and approaches his Evolution, perpendicular to Daiki's Z, 7 car lengths away. Then arrived the first car - a white Nissan Skyline R34 with the Defender Body kitted FD behind. They brought their cars to a halt meters away from the Z and Evo and stepped out of their cars afterwards.

Both Seiji and Daiki are right, in terms of who are driving. The one who stepped out of the FD is wearing a Kashmir coat, 5"11 in height, wears a pair of square type sunglasses and black toned denims. He has a square type haircut, closely resembling a grown military haircut. He is Kazuhiko Aizawa - a very close associate of Seiji Tsuchiya.

The R34 driver wore a black coat paired with a dark purple turtleneck sweater. He has blonde hair which looks as if it waved with the wind. He has a half-half face - looking both American and Japanese. He is Raymond "Lightning Angel" Yamazaki. Daiki was right.

"S...seiji!?"
"Daiki, it's fancy meeting you here when I just had a battle." Raymond said.

The result, if you were ever wondering, is that Raymond Barely won once again. Both the FD and GT-R had the same power output but Raymond's professionally tuned R34 proved faster than the FD, claiming another win. Kazuhiko didn't show any signs of regrets or deceit from losing. He was glad to face Yamazaki all the way since on their last race, the winner was yet to be decided when Raymond suddenly ended the race that time.

"So you're facing Akiyama today, huh Seiji?" Kazuhiko asked him who just nodded.
"You're racing Seiji Tsuchiya.?" Raymond asked Daiki.

Chloe felt a bit left out and butts in saying that "Daiki isn't here to race... we just had a date and..." her words were cut short when Daiki started talking. "I've decided to battle him at this very moment."

"There goes that ending I desired..." Chloe thought with a huge sigh.

Seiji gives a huge grin and says. "Good. That's what I am expecting you to say."
"But I won't gain anything from this pointless battle, now am I?" Daiki added.
"T-this race isn't pointless!!" Seiji said in anger.
"Oh? How so?"
"This battle is a matter of pride. The only way to know which of us is better suited to be a God of the Wangan."
"There are not Gods on the Wangan, Seiji. We all are mortals here."
"Cut your nonsense talk! Thanks to you, I have lost my sense of pride as a racer and my credibility was ruined. I couldn't race to my own potential thanks to you."
"Why are you blaming it on Daiki?" Chloe interrupted.
"Why? WHY? IT'S because of him that I... I..."

"I lost my place as the number 1 driver on Tokyo's Highways!!"
"So what? That is not my problem."
"You little..." Seiji said keeping his curses to himself.
"So what if I beat you in a simple battle such as that. It isn't the end of the world. There is nothing for us to gain in racing each other."
"A person like you, who just showed up all of a sudden here would never understand the meaning and value of what it is like to race in the Wangan." Seiji started.
The discussion is starting to get out of hand as two principles start to clash with each other.
"Credibility. Respect. Pride. These are the things that I... no we Shutoku racers earn through our wins. It is the only way for us to know that we are not just some outcast members of society. It is the only way to show that we have a role in this world. The commoners would not understand what we drive for. And you call yourself a driver? You are no better than a peddler of secular society if that is how you think of us drivers as worthless people!!"
The term peddler of secular society to Daiki is felt as an insult. He wouldn't take that comment as it is. He gritted his teeth during the discussion.
"As much as I detest violence... I detest insults more which pertain to my identity as a person. 'Peddler of Society'? You've gone too far Tsuchiya." Daiki said in a smite of Rage.
"What do you know? You've insulted us racers and you expect to be treated as somebody higher?" Seiji replied. Kazuhiko and Raymond seem to agree with Seiji at this point. Chloe on the other hand is the only one who cannot understand the politics of street racing in Japan and by default sides with Daiki.
"WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE TO JUDGE US!?" Seiji shouted at Daiki.
Chloe is starting to fear Seiji with those words. She held tighter to Daiki's arm and goes closer to him, feeling safe in his presence.

"You know that talking like this won't get us nowhere. Not even you guys." Kazuhiko commented. "He is right. We both understand what you mean but in this world of ours, actions speak louder than words. There's no better way to prove your principles by racing for it." Raymond suggested.

"So this is the only way, is it?" Daiki thought aloud to Seiji.
"They're right. The only way for us to get anywhere with this needless talk of opposing principles is to see which one of us is the better driver. We race from here to the other end of the Wangan Line Kanagawa freeway."
"Why refuse now if this is the only way for us to settle this topic?"

Daiki steps into his Z and asks Chloe to ride alongside him.
Seiji boards his Evolution also and gets ready. He takes out a bottle of water and drinks to calm his senses. "I'll show that rich guy Akiyama what I mean..."

Chloe is looking down on the floor as she thinks that this is the true form of street racers in Japan. Daiki notices this and comforts her.
"Chloe. I'm sorry I got you involved in this. Even I never expected to meet with Seiji this way. This is sudden and I'm sorry that you got involved in my personal confrontations."
Chloe won't say a word. Daiki thought that she's angry over the matter, thinking too childish about what Seiji was saying.
He turns on the engine and shifts to gear 1, placing his car parallel to Seiji's Evolution. Chloe starts to say a few words.
"Win this for me, Daiki. And I'll forgive your errors tonight."
"Errors?"
"Just win. I don't ever want to see you all caught up in matters such as this. It destroys the atmosphere we have. Win this and I will forgive your transgressions."
Chloe said while shivering. Daiki notices this and puts his left hand on Chloe's hands.

"I'll do my best." Daiki said.

Kazuhiko starts the countdown and does it on the side. When he brought his raised arm down, which signals a go... both the Evolution and Z blast off onto the Exit of the Aqualine Hotspot. As they enter the long tunnel, Seiji's Evo 8 claims the lead on the first half of the race. Daiki continues to follow the Evolution infront of him, willing not to lose to Seiji's car and be thought of as a peddler, in Seiji's context. Chloe looks at the tachometer and assures herself of the matter...

260 km/h and rising...
 
- Chapter 12: Grand Evolution!!! -

Down the Aqualine tunnel... Seiji is increasing the gap. He looks full of energy in his seat as he shifts to gear 4. His Evo 8 blasts after every shift down the long tunnel's straightway, instantly leaving the Z as if it was just standing there.

Daiki, in his 350Z... is not that scared of Seiji's faster and more stronger Evolution. He was completely calm. Even Chloe feels safe with him in this kind of composure. In Daiki's mind, he is analyzing the current capabilities and upgrades of the Evolution, even from afar...

"Maximum output 530 hp... acceleration rate, 0-60 in 4.5 seconds present, lateral G is good... all around estimate weight... 1280 kg..." Daiki thought as he drove. He was referring to the Evo's numerical statistics. He compares it with his Z's.
"Maximum output 500 hp... acceleration rate, 0-60 in 4.75 seconds present, lateral G is okay... all around estimate weight 1340 kg..." He thought once again.

As he shifts to gear 4, his Z gains some ground...

Seiji looks at his rearview mirror, as 3 kilometers worth of straight road has passed. The Z looks as if it is around 150 meters away from him. "Hmph." He smirked.
"You won't beat me this time, Akiyama." he said in a serious tone as he shifts gears.

When the gap is close to 175 meters, Daiki positions his car right behind the Evo... barely making it to its slipstream. From there, his car starts to gain more acceleration as it closes in on the Evolution. Well, to Chloe, that is what she thinks.

Actually, the end of the Aqualine tunnel is close and it signals the turning point of the match. As Daiki reaches Seiji's maximum speed of 298 km/h, Seiji decelerates down to 180 upon corner entry... there are no oncoming traffic cars blocking his line so he sets up for an out in out attack.

Daiki sees through this and copies Seiji's move.

-at the Aqualine parking area (Umihotaru)-

"So..." Raymond utters to Kazuhiko who is leaning on his FD. "Who do you think would win?"
"I can't say" Kazuhiko humbly answered. "It is hard to tell. I know these two very well in terms of driving." "What do you mean?" Raymond asked once more. "We've seen Daiki drive twice already against two aces. But I've seen Seiji drive more. They're equal in a sense." Kazuhiko explained.
"Well, my vote is for Akiyama. I don't want him to lose to anyone except me... when the time comes." Raymond proudly thought aloud.
"Hmph. Feeling a bit cocky, eh? Just coz you nearly won against him back then?"
"How so?" Raymond answered back calmly.

Friction starts to burn between Kazuhiko and Raymond once more.

"Hey." Raymond uttered. "Yeah?" Kazu answered back. "Let's go at it."
"You mean another round?" Kazuhiko guessed.
"You betcha. I think I can beat you a second time around." Raymond said.
"Well... I beg to differ." Kazu said frankly. "I've seen you drive all out and I now have a plan to go against yours."
"Okay then. We go on the same route as Daiki and Seiji. First there wins." Raymond answers.

With that, the White R34 and blue FD slowly make their way out of the Umihotaru parking area and onto the tunnel down the aqua line.

-back with Daiki and Seiji-

"Huh!?" Seiji wonders as he glances at his rearview mirror.
The Z is closing in pretty fast near the Kawasakiukishima junction to the left.
They both know that at the end of the race is the Daikoku Junction, continuing to the Honmoku junction... But Seiji isn't disturbed by the Z closing in. He keeps his cool but on the inside, he is slowly freaking out. He has made such a huge gap. How could Daiki close in on his Evo just like that? "I already have the FQ-400 engine installed with a much bigger turbine!! How could his standard V6 just catch up to it. Don't tell me... he copies my line!?"

Seiji slows down upon entry through the S curve like junction starting off with a medium to low speed left with a sudden drop in elevation. Seiji lets go of his accelerator and maneuvers through the tight inside.

As Daiki enters the corner, he takes into account that Chloe is with him throughout the trip. He induces his Z into a drift slowly through inertial movements. Outside the Z's cockpit, they may say that Daiki's aggressively entering the corner but truth of the matter is, He's taking it easy. He never allowed too much steering through the corner. At an estimate... it's angled at 25 degrees to the left. He rocks the body upon entry to bring the car to a slide without exerting much cornering force. The tires are not skidding for the sole fact that he is feathering his accelerator at a steady 6500 rpm.

"Incredible feathering..." Chloe whispered. "He's a phenomenal driver." In her mind, she's all over Daiki as she thinks to herself... "No wonder I picked the right guy for me. Tee hee." She softly chuckled.

At the exit, Seiji halved his gas and exits into the long straight to Daikoku Futo with full power. He stomps on his gas as soon as the car is placed directly on the straight. Hoping that he leaves Daiki for good.

Daiki on the other hand, goes even more aggressive with his driving style and stomps on the gas upon entry to the second, right-left corner. His tires smoke endlessly upon contact and the revs start to go wild near the red zone.

He lost a fraction of grip upon exit, about to hit the outside wall. Chloe sees this coming and crunches his left arm to a fist of fear with her other arm holding on the handle bar. She looks at Daiki for a split second and is confident with his driving.

Daiki feels as if he's reached his limit, exceeding the grip level of his Z. It is about to hit the outer wall. Suddenly, a supernatural thing happened, the Z regained 50% of its maximum grip and instantly regains balance. Daiki sees this as a good sign of unknown origins but Chloe feels otherwise. She didn't tell Daiki and keeps it to herself. To her, the feeling was familiar. She lets it pass and watches Daiki gain on the Evo 8.

According to their spedometers, the Evolution is reaching 299 km/h and slowly rising down the Daikoku Futo straightway. As for the 350Z... it's reaching... 310 and still rising at a drastic pace. It is as if Daiki's Z has a stronger acceleration pull effect, in terms of tuning, in comparison to Seiji's Lancer Evolution.

Back with Yamazaki and Aizawa...

Down the long tunnel of the Aqualine, Yamazaki is confident in leading the race with the FD just behind his bleaming white R34. From a distance, Yamazaki's R34 looks like a cross between the Mine's R34 and the Nismo S tune R34 GT. Passing the 260 km/h mark, Kazuhiko and Raymond shifted gears; the FD going to gear 5 with the GT-R on the same gear too.

"He seems pretty confident in beating me as if I am nothing..." Kazuhiko thought. "But it doesn't mean that I'll be left behind that easily. His R34 carries as much power as Seiji's Evolution... at 530 maximum. The weight is as heavy as Daiki's 350Z. Could he even come close to beating them?" Kazu thought once again. As soon as their cars reached 278 km/h, Raymond shifted to gear 6 - the problem in his R34. The R34 pulled back a bit upon the moment when the gear closes. Kazuhiko breaks free from the slipstream and swerves to the right side and goes side by side with the R34.

"Hmm... You seem oddly faster than our last race, Kazuhiko." Raymond smirked. "But that won't stop me!!" Raymond said, gluing his foot down on the gas even more. The FD continues to gain on the R34 but the R34 is slowly pulling away from the tie, regaining the lead. As soon as both cars got out of the tunnel, they are both signaled by their automated GPS systems to watch out and slow down for the fast incoming hard left. It's finally turning into a braking contest.

The R34 and FD braked side by side. Raymond gritted his teeth knowing the full advantage of the RX-7. He exerts all braking effort that the GT-R could possess. As soon as he sees the FD gain ground and speed against his own car, Raymond turns the wheel and attempts to block the FD preventing it from overtaking during braking. Kazuhiko was not surprised and never lets off the gas even for a second. As soon as they enter the corner, Kazuhiko realizes that Raymond attack was for another cause, he saw the corner coming and turns earlier than expected. "He makes me think that he's blocking my line but the fact is that he is setting up for the corner ahead!?" He smiled and thought about it. "You're crazy, Yamazaki. But that's why I like racing against you."

The FD and R34 are neck to neck down the S curve section, with the FD sticking to the R34 by only a mere millimeter from hitting the rear fender of the R34. Yamazaki nor Kazuhiko budged as they feel the immense pressure between them. As they exit the section and enter the straight leading to Daikoku Futo, the FD exits the last corner far faster than the R34, despite the fact that Yamazaki extended the gap to 5 car lengths before the end of the corner. Slowly, Kazuhiko is gaining. Raymond's R34 only has reached 273 km/h from the straight's entrance whereas Kazuhiko has went beyond that reaching a far fascinating speed of 288 km/h and is closing in on the GT-R ahead of him.

Back with Daiki and Seiji...

Seiji, knowing that it is a straight and there are no traffic cars on the way, relaxes on his seat and cuts his acceleration press by 10%. He is sure that the Z won't catch up and he is 900 meters away from the goal... until...

"Na...NA-NANI!!??" Seiji freaked out in his seat as he stomps fully on the gas. His speed increases but not that much. He looks at Daiki's calm face as he never bothers to notice Seiji get passed and laugh at his pathetic attempts to hold his lead. The Z effortlessly passes the Evolution 600 meters before the goal but it is as if the race is far from over... in Seiji's context. Only six hundred meters... would anything happen in that short distance between them and the goal?
 
- Chapter 13: A State of Profession -

Seiji steps out of his Lancer Evolution and walks over to its front. Before he stepped out, he turned on the hazard lights. He listens fervently at the sound of the 350Z which kept fading and fading as far as it went.

All of a sudden, Seiji blasts in rage punching and kicking the fence at his side. He releases all his rage as soon as he sees the face of Daiki upon blinking. "DAMN!! DAMN!!" He said as he continues to punch the wall.

"HOW COULD I LOSE TO A NOBODY SUCH AS HIM!? WHY MUST I LOSE TO THE LIKES OF HIM, WHO CLAIMS TO BE A STREET RACER!? A SHUTOKU WARRIOR, HE CLAIMS!! HE SICKENS ME!!"

After one last punch, his blood from his battered fist slowly spurs out.
"Akiyama... of all people, you are the king of fools. Nobody has ever looked down upon a fellow street racer and gets away with it. You are a total disgrace!!"

His thoughts came to a halt upon the tone of a Nissan's RB26DETT and a 20B Rotary coming up close. It is Yamazaki and Aizawa, fighting it out on the last straigthway. The blue FD sweves to the left side of the white R34 and is instantly gaining the lead. Kazuhiko has passed Yamazaki's R34 yet Raymond doesn't show any sign of fear or regret. He smirks in his seat. "So you got even with me."

Raymond slows down and waves to Kazuhiko, who stops infront of Seiji's Lan Evo 8. Kazuhiko waves back at Raymond and turns to face Seiji.

"Whoa... bro. You alright?" Kazu asked him. He can tell because Seiji's body is shivering in rage at the moment. "Y...yeah." He groaned. He is lying and Kazuhiko could frankly tell.
"Let it go man. Don't care what that Daiki guy says to you. You are a great shutoku racer. No one could take that fact away from you. Not even him. Yeah, so what if he is good." Kazuhiko told Seiji straight.
"As long as he doesn't have the heart of a true shutoku racer... he doesn't deserve to be called one at all..." Kazuhiko finished; hoping that telling Seiji that Daiki's wrong would calm Seiji's senses.

From afar, inside the silver 350Z...

Daiki halves his press on the accelerator and talks to Chloe.
"I am sorry about a while ago. I am sorry that you have to see me act that way, Chloe." Daiki says in a humble tone.
"At least you won, right... my love?" Chloe assures.
"But I don't think I've won." Daiki admits. "Seiji's words have left a huge thought for me to think over..."

"But I won't gain anything from this pointless battle, now am I?" Daiki added.
"T-this race isn't pointless!!" Seiji said in anger.
"Oh? How so?"
"This battle is a matter of pride. The only way to know which of us is better suited to be a God of the Wangan."
"There are not Gods on the Wangan, Seiji. We all are mortals here."
"Cut your nonsense talk! Thanks to you, I have lost my sense of pride as a racer and my credibility was ruined. I couldn't race to my own potential thanks to you."
"Why are you blaming it on Daiki?" Chloe interrupted.
"Why? WHY? IT'S because of him that I... I..."

"I lost my place as the number 1 driver on Tokyo's Highways!!"
"So what? That is not my problem."
"You little..." Seiji said keeping his curses to himself.
"So what if I beat you in a simple battle such as that. It isn't the end of the world. There is nothing for us to gain in racing each other."
"A person like you, who just showed up all of a sudden here would never understand the meaning and value of what it is like to race in the Wangan." Seiji started.
The discussion is starting to get out of hand as two principles start to clash with each other.
"Credibility. Respect. Pride. These are the things that I... no we Shutoku racers earn through our wins. It is the only way for us to know that we are not just some outcast members of society. It is the only way to show that we have a role in this world. The commoners would not understand what we drive for. And you call yourself a driver? You are no better than a peddler of secular society if that is how you think of us drivers as worthless people!!"
The term peddler of secular society to Daiki is felt as an insult. He wouldn't take that comment as it is. He gritted his teeth during the discussion.
"As much as I detest violence... I detest insults more which pertain to my identity as a person. 'Peddler of Society'? You've gone too far Tsuchiya." Daiki said in a smite of Rage.
"What do you know? You've insulted us racers and you expect to be treated as somebody higher?" Seiji replied. Kazuhiko and Raymond seem to agree with Seiji at this point. Chloe on the other hand is the only one who cannot understand the politics of street racing in Japan and by default sides with Daiki.
"WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE TO JUDGE US!?" Seiji shouted at Daiki.

"Am I really fit to be a hashirya?" Daiki thought to himself.
At that very moment, Chloe felt the ominous presence of a fearsome aura surrounding Daiki's Z. 'No... it can't be... can it?' Chloe thought to herself but ignores this afterwards.
The Z disappears into the dark unlit part of the highway and vanishes.

The next day at Akiyama racing school...

Daiki walks around the halls to see if everything is going as it usually does.
So far, things are going the way it used to until...
He passes by Naoko's class - the class where Kitana is. The weird thing is Kitana didn't show up. He calls Naoko's attention through a hand wave from outside.
"Oh?" Naoko notices and sees Daiki.
"excuse me for a second class. Go on with your seatwork for a while."
They are doing a module on drivetrain differences & Setup Maintenance, their second module.
"What is it, Akiyama-sama?" Naoko asks.
"Where's Ms. Tioseco?" Daiki wonders.
"Kitana? Now that you've mentioned it, she didn't come to class again."
"Again?" Daiki's confused with the situation. He thought that Kitana was angst to become a racer. I guess his judgement of her was incorrect.
"Even last monday, she didn't come. She's missing for a week now..." Naoko admits.
Daiki gets suspicious by every bit of evidence he gets out of Naoko.
"Are you planning to go to her school to investigate?"
"No."
"Eh?" Naoko reacts.
"Perhaps she is busy. If ever she comes back, I'll talk to her about the matter." He said as he walks away.

"And what if she doesn't come back?" Naoko asks as a follow up. Daiki stopped and thought it over for a second. "Then... I have no choice but to go to her school and talk to her from there. See you later." he said as he leaves Naoko be. He heads for his office.

By the time he gets to his office, he closes the door and is still thinking about what Seiji said. Pictures of Seiji talking in rage appear in Daiki's mind. Driving him nuts. He slowly walks over to his desk to ease his mind.

He looks at his table, noticing an unfamiliar, unprinted envelope on his desk.
"Hmm?" There's no name on it. This got Daiki's attention for the meantime.

"I wonder who sent this. Seiji probably? Kitana?"
He opens the envelope, revealing a wallet sized picture of a Nissan R390 GT-1 road car. He ignores that and focuses on the letter.


Akiyama Daiki.

I am glad to have this opportunity to talk to you. My name is Shimizu Ohyama. Noticed or not, I was a spectator on your battle against that Evolution 8 MR yesterday. I am glad to have gotten the information from a couple of nearby street racers of your whereabouts. My purpose is to recruit you to our local racing team at Mie Prefecture.

We are known as the Midnight Masters and we often hold team meetings around and at Suzuka Circuit; located at Mie Prefecture, as stated. Having you on our team would be a fine asset and we can assure you that you could find our team interesting enough to your expectations. We are primarily composed of young retirees from different fields of automotive racing; from Rally racers, to experimental car testers, to ex Le Mans contenders. I find it that getting to have you in our team would help us become a better team and be good enough to match that of the semi-professional teams in the area. If you wish to contact us, feel free to contact me personally. My cellular phone number is located at the back of this note. An immediate response to this would be of high recognition to us and we hope to get one from you soon.

Yours truly,
Shimizu Ohyama
Founder of Midnight Masters team


"A local racing team at Mie, huh?" Daiki thought.
He hasn't associated himself to any other professionals and veterans from automotive racing for a while. He has mostly isolated himself from associating with such and only retains valuable contacts. This sounds quite new to Daiki and intrigues him for a bit.
"Maybe associating with a racing team outside of Tokyo might not be so bad..." He thought to himself.

From outside, a blue Nissan R390 GT-1 is ready to leave the area. The driver, who is wearing a kashmir coat and square-type sunglasses shifts the car to gear 1 and taps on the gas, leaving the Racing School venue.
 
- Chapter 14: Persistence -

A few days have passed since Daiki faced Seiji once again on the wangan, realizing that Kitana waived herself from her personal oath to Daiki, and getting weird letters from somebody named Shimizu Ohyama. He could be a fan of Daiki's but is he? Perhaps not. His first letter doesn't sound like something a fan would say. This is just making Daiki ignore the letter even more. But it doesn't stop there.

Daiki goes about his usual business at the Akiyama Racing School. After boringly checked the garage cars, the classrooms and organizing important documents at his office, another letter appears. "It's the same content." He said as he browsed through the letter. He crumples the letter again and throws it at the nearby waste bin; continuing his usual business afterwards. "I wonder how many more of these letters would be coming..." Daiki thought.

As he boards his 350z, there's a letter attached to his windshield wiper. Again, it is from Shimizu. The only good thing in this situation is that Daiki's patience is very vast. So it would take him a while before he'd explode and furiously search for Shimizu Ohyama, whoever that is, himself.

The next day arrives...

And again, the same thing. More letters from Shimizu on places you'd never expect - his drawer, at every door in the classrooms, the toilet, the toilet itself, the garage doors. "Tsk. What does he want?" Daiki thought. "Maybe if you even bother to answer that letter, he'd stop this nonsense." Naoko uttered behind Daiki who just came by with a couple of small boxes with her as she approaches Daiki.

"Naoko. How'd you know about this?" He asked her.
"Well... it isn't that hard to notice, Daiki..." She said as she shows off a couple more letters. "Oh... Those..." He said in slight embarrassment.
"If you want these to stop, Daiki... You have to reply. Or else he won't stop messing with you and us..."

He goes back to his office and thinks it over.

"If you want these to stop, Daiki... You have to reply. Or else he won't stop messing with you and us..."


He reclines on his seat and thinks the letter over in his mind...
Akiyama Daiki.

I am glad to have this opportunity to talk to you. My name is Shimizu Ohyama. Noticed or not, I was a spectator on your battle against that Evolution 8 MR yesterday. I am glad to have gotten the information from a couple of nearby street racers of your whereabouts. My purpose is to recruit you to our local racing team at Mie Prefecture.

We are known as the Midnight Masters and we often hold team meetings around and at Suzuka Circuit; located at Mie Prefecture, as stated. Having you on our team would be a fine asset and we can assure you that you could find our team interesting enough to your expectations. We are primarily composed of young retirees from different fields of automotive racing; from Rally racers, to experimental car testers, to ex Le Mans contenders. I find it that getting to have you in our team would help us become a better team and be good enough to match that of the semi-professional teams in the area. If you wish to contact us, feel free to contact me personally. My cellular phone number is located at the back of this note. An immediate response to this would be of high recognition to us and we hope to get one from you soon.

Yours truly,
Shimizu Ohyama
Founder of Midnight Masters team


"What am I to other people? Am I that of use to them? Why do they even bother to strive for the professional league? What's so great about it? It's boring once you get there..." He thought. "I know because when I was 14, I already saw their light. The light is pretty dim if you ask me. Why bother to continue?" He said with his head looking up on the ceiling. "But their team profile sounds fantastic... I mean... retirees of previous racing groups and divisions... this at least gets my interest..."
He thought aloud.

"Perhaps... I'd like Shimizu to test my wits even further... to see how persistent he is to get me in their team and what purpose I might serve for them... Just a little more, Ohyama Shimizu... til that time comes... I won't respond for a while... Sorry Naoko. I'd like to see his determination level..." He said in his mind.

It's almost a week now ever since that time Daiki has resolved to test Shimizu's wits; and his own. But it seems that Daiki's patience is at its limit at the moment. Shimizu's letters are compiling along with important documents. Daiki doesn't have much time to sort out his letters from the documents... not to mention, his Z, and all of the other cars are covered in letters from Shimizu Ohyama.

He opens his locker and finds a mountain of request letters. I think Shimizu is going a bit overboard with all the request letters he is making just to get Daiki's attention. "Rrr..." He groaned. "This is just too much..." He said aloud.
Naoko who was the only one with him when Daiki's complaining said that "well, if you only answered back a week ago, this catastrophe never could've happened. Hows say you call him now?"

Daiki, all of a sudden hears footsteps close in from outside his office. "Naoko. Be quiet for a moment..." He sees the shadow of a person crunch down and slide a letter below the door. Daiki smirks as he has deduced that the person outside is Shimizu Ohyama. He reclines and smiles as he says "You don't have to do that, Shimizu Ohyama..." He shouted his name in the end.

Naoko immediately rushes to the door to apprehend Shimizu in his tracks. Naoko pushes the door away and like a police officer rushing to capture a criminal, she immediately grabs Shimizu by the arm and restrains his movement perfectly.

"O...ow. Watch it, woman..." Shimizu said as he looks to see the person grabbing him. He gasps as soon as he sees a beautiful, green toned long haired woman grab his arm. "For a woman such as yourself... you sure know when to go to the offensive." He said with a evil snicker.
Naoko, who has a bit of a short temper with men like him, was about to slap Shimizu into discipline until... "Naoko! Bring him here. I'll deal with him myself." He said with a serious face.

"Um... yes... Boss..." Naoko gave in to the orders and brought Shimizu in.
Shimizu Ohyama, is a tall Japanese person... around 180 centimeters tall, wearing a turtleneck sweater overlapped with a Kashmir coat. His hair is quite straight and goes down until half of his neck. He looks quite intelligent, as he wears a pair of glasses. He wears a pair of black-brown slacks down and a pair of adidas driving shoes, similar to the Duralite rubber shoes.

He looks at Daiki from his seat. "My my... you're quite young..." "How old are you exactly...?" Shimizu humbly asked Daiki. "I'm just 18." daiki admits.
"Eighteen, huh? I'm not surprised. But I am quite curious... aren't you a bit too young to manage a racing school?" Shimizu asked again.
"Well... I just inherited the school from my father. It is as if I have a choice or anything like that." Daiki shares his sentiments to Shimizu.

"Well... I am 26 years old now. And although, you are young in comparison to me, I am honored to meet you, Mr. Daiki Akiyama."

"Now, why are you intent on recruiting me to your team? What purpose do I serve you and your team?" Daiki frankly asks him.
"We need you on our team Akiyama." Shimizu admits with conviction.
"Need?"
"We need someone with all the technical knowledge and connections to make our rag out team, as I hate to admit that fact, into a semi professional like street racing team."
"If that is your only reason as to call me..." Daiki closes his eyes and analyzes the situation.
Shimizu intently listens to what Daiki has to say.



"I'd decline your offer..."
 
- Chapter 15: From Rivalries to Friendships -

Shimizu shivers in his seat. It is first offer from a professional to aid them in their team arrangements and now given the chance to talk, Daiki immediately declines the offer.

Shimizu fiercely stands up and gives Daiki a piece of his mind. He throws his arms down on Daiki's table and demands an answer.

"WHY!? WHY DECLINE AT THIS VERY MOMENT!!?"

Daiki looks away from Shimizu with just his eyes moving and explains. "It's because, Mr. Ohyama... I don't see any benefit in it for me."

"Benefit for yourself? Is that why you declined Seiji Tsuchiya's battle announcement to you before?" Shimizu explained. Remembering Seiji, the only thing that pops out of Daiki's mind is what Seiji told him... calling him a peddler of society, unable to understand the essence of what it means to be a street racer.

"W...were you there that night?" Daiki asked Shimizu all of a sudden.
"Was I there? Of course I was! Anybody who is anybody should see Seiji in action. He is mostly at the Daikoku Futo parking area where all racers meet up. He rarely goes to the Umihotaru parking at the aqualine. It just happens that I was near the umihotaru parking area."

"Tell me, is Seiji Tsuchiya that famous?" Daiki followed up another questions.
"Are you sure you are Daiki AKiyama? All street racers must keep up with the times, man." Shimizu insisted. "Seiji is a famous driver now of our lifetime. He has scored a straight 40-0 win in the past with his undefeated record tarnished in your presence. If you stayed in the Daikoku Futo more often, you'd see how many people are putting their money on you and Seiji for the title of the strongest wangan driver in Tokyo."

"That doesn't concern me too much." Daiki commented as he stood from his chair and faces the shelf.
"I am not interested with the racing world. Especially that of the Wangan. I am not, in general fond of racing. I am just forced to do this. It must be my destiny to own this school but I never gave interest to racing of all kinds. If I am, then my point of view over stuff like this would totally be different, I assure you that." Daiki said aloud.

"Then, if you're not interested, why do you run the Wangan night in and night out?" Shimizu asked a serious question.

"It is simply a way for me to relieve myself of endless stress. I don't care who's out there. I just want to roam free."

"But if there is somebody and you defeat them, don't you feel a bit of relief or sense of longing from racing?" Shimizu asked him.

"What do you mean?"

"It's simple, really." Shimizu crossed his arms, ready to talk serious about street racing. "IF you do feel any relief in doing this sort of stuff, then you should understand that deep inside you, you enjoy racing. Why must you contradict something you really like deep inside? Street racing is a very infamous art but there would always be a group of people interested where it becomes a part of their everyday life, I guarantee that."

"What's the deal? They're just boxes with four wheels." Daiki told him.

"They're not just boxes, Daiki. Cars were built for a reason. And it is not only to get to our destination faster. We men, want to reach the heavens in one way or another. Those who kept on racing down long wide straightways here in Tokyo were close to that feeling - an indirect route to that inhuman goal."

"What happens then?" Daiki asks. "What happens when you see or get to the heavens? What is in it for you?"

"Nothing to be exact. The feeling of reaching it is something indescribable. I mean..." Shimizu stood up and approached Daiki. "...you don't need something in return or expect something in return when you do something. Not everything we do has a counterpart of the same kind. For example: you don't do a good deed just because you expect to be paid. You do it because it is the right thing to do and it gives you that 'good' feeling inside. In some way, it is the same with racing. We say that it is a matter of pride. But realize, Daiki, that when you race people, you don't just gain respect and a sense of acknowledgement. You also feel that you get to meet a friend on the same ground standing with you."

He places his left hand on Daiki's shoulder and says...
"So, with that in mind, I hope you understand my side on things and reconsider your answer. Seeing you with the group would most likely help us a lot; I guarantee that, with something in return or not... it will help us to see you there with us." Shimizu said as he heads for the door.

Daiki thinks it over for a second or two and immediately calls out Shimizu's name before he could step out. "Shimizu!!" Daiki shouted.

Shimizu turns around and says something.
"What you said is something abstract; I can tell that's true. And if what you are saying is right, then, I'd like to see what you mean. I'm going with your team."

Shimizu can't help but smile. He has Daiki finally on his side but...

"On one condition. We do battle on Suzuka Circuit." Daiki proposes.
"Anything in it for us?" Shimizu joked around.
"Don't get sarcastic on me and don't you dare copy me." Daiki told him. "Here is the deal - We battle. I won't use my car. Prepare a car for me. And I do battle against the entire team, including you in it. We do a full lap around Suzuka. If I manage to pull away from you guys by 50 meters from the goal, I win, and if the situation is not favorable to me, I'd reconsider my answer. If you or anyone from your crew manages to trail behind me by less than 50 meters or has overtaken me by the end of the full lap run, I get to stay in your team. Deal?" Daiki asks as he extends his hand.

"Those are fine conditions you've suggested, Akiyama." Shimizu commetned as he throws his hand at Daiki's open hand, closing the deal.

A contract was made. If Daiki beats the entire group with a 50 meter gap, he wins. If anyone decides to stick before 50 meters, even if Daiki wins, he's in the team. Before Shimizu ever leaves...

"Before you go... There's something I'd like to ask you." Daiki asks one last time. "Why are you a racer?"

Shimizu answers it without facing Daiki. "I am one not because I was once a Le Mans driver. It is because I adore driving. And it's been my entire life to search for that unreachable feeling. I mean, it is possible on the wangan, but my car forbids me. And I love my car as if it is a part of me. That's my answer." Shimizu finishes as he leaves the office. He gives a smile to Naoko, who was waiting outside and leaves the institution.

Naoko wonders what happened and approaches Daiki. "What happened, Daiki-sama?" Naoko asks immediately.

"We just made a deal and contracted it."
"Contracted it?"
"I'll be out tomorrow, Naoko. I'll be going to Mie. So I am leaving the racing school in your hands."
"What do you mean?" Naoko wonders.
Daiki takes something out from his coat's pocket - a badge of some sort with the initial VP on the badge.

"Most of the time, I noticed, that I won't be around to manage the school. So I am promoting you to Vice President of the Racing SChool."
Daiki said with a smile at Naoko's face.

"A...are you promoting me?" Naoko wonders while blushing.
"You're the only one I could trust who can do things how I want it here, Naoko. Congratulations. You're not just my secretary anymore." He said holding both her shoulders. Naoko can't help but blush. And not to mention the fact that Daiki's face is so close to hers. If she was a bratty teenager, she's kiss him but even if she is older than him by 2 years, she can't help but fall for Daiki.

Daiki leaves the place under the care of Naoko.
Naoko holds dearly to her new badge. The badge gleams brightly at the light. Daiki, on the other hand, who makes his way to the faculty garage thinks of what Shimizu said and relating it to Seiji's rhetorical questions.

"I guess... it's thanks to Shimizu... thanks to him... why I am able now to understand what it means to be a street racer. Seiji is right. I shouldn't have looked down on street racers... because... officially now..." He thought to himself as he walks to his garage."I am a street racer as of this very day onwards. I don't know my purpose in becoming a street racer or what drove me to race in the very beginning... but I will find the answer eventually."

His thoughts were disturbed when he got a call and message from Chloe.
"Hello?"
"Daiki! Hi! Are you free tomorrow?" Chloe asks from the other side of the phone.
"Sorry, honey. I am not."
"When are you free then?"
"When are YOU free?" Daiki asks her back.
"Well... this friday I am... oh and tonight." Chloe admits.

"What about you, love?" Chloe asks him back.
"Well... I'll be gone for a day though. Tomorrow I'm going to Mie prefecture." Daiki answers.
"Well..." Chloe asks. "Mind if I go and see you there? I have no plans on working tomorrow, just between you and me."
"I could use a ride. I'll be leaving my Z for an overhaul tomorrow and the rest of my cars are in self impound on my garage and are due for maintenance. Could you pick me up at my apartel?" Daiki asks.

Chloe leaped for joy from the other line and answers happily. "Oh yes! Tres bien! I'd like ... no, love to pick you up tomorrow."
"So it is a half date, then?"
"As long as it is a date, it is a date!!" Chloe said with a little giggle.
"I'll text you my house number later on. Au revoir." Daiki said.
Chloe does a kiss sound and hangs up.

He enters his garage and sees his team of mechanics working on the Z. "How are you sir?" One of them greeted Daiki.
"I'm fine. So, how are preparations?" Daiki asks.
"By tomorrow aftenoon, the parts for your Z will be arriving. You aksed for the full, newly released S tune GT parts, right, sir?"
Daiki gives a simple nod on that note.

He sees his Z getting new parts installed - a new air cleaner, intercooler, a Blitz brand turbo kit, Amuse exhaust set, the Race spec Nismo GT type suspension kit, a new set of durable semi racing brake set and a few more; including a rollcage setup.

Daiki likes how things are going. He got fed up momentarily with his coupe type Nismo setup and wants to experiment with the type E GT setup. He reminds them not to forget to the Chargespeed GT wing type 4.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

-Suzuka Circuit; Mie prefecture, the next day at 11:15 a.m.-

The pink Porsche boxster S, an RuF 3400S enters the Suzuka circuit compound and slowly brings the car to a stop at the parking area. Daiki, wearing a simple business short sleeve polo shirt and black tight fit denims escorts Chloe, who is wearing a spaghetti strap blouse, topped with a denim jacket, and a mid length light colored skirt, into the control tower.

(Control Tower, Suzuka Circuit)

"I'd like you to watch the race from here, Chloe. It'll be more comfortable for you to watch it here than below." Daiki assures.
"No, I'd like to be with you, cherie." Chloe insisted.
"SOrry, honey. It's better for you here for the meantime. I'll be alright. Nothing is gonna happen to me."

Daiki turns around and leaves Chloe in the air conditioned room. Chloe was unsure of Daiki's safety. She can feel the ominous feeling again, when Daiki is about to race. She quickly rushes to Daiki, calls out his name, and...

...Kisses him on the lips as he embraces him. Daiki was shocked at first, and slowly gives in to the feeling; extending the duration of the kiss even more. After a minute and a half of kissing, Chloe pulls away. Daiki caresses her by the cheek.
"Be safe out there, Daiki-kun." Chloe asks from his fiance.
"I will. For you, I'll be safe there." Daiki softly told her then makes his way down.

(Garage area where Shimizu is...)

"Looking for your car, Daiki?" Shimizu asks him from behind.
"Oh, Shimizu. It's glad to see you." Daiki greets humbly.
"Your car is over there, already in the starting grid - second place." Shimizu points to the silver NSX-R 2003 placed on the track.

"A Honda NSX huh?"
"One of our members just bought that but is unsure of its performance and double thinks his decision."
"So you want me to make him reconsider his right decision by using this in our agreed battle."
"That is correct. Besides, it is fresh from Honda Motors, to make things fair." Shimizu comments. "The rest of the 5 cars placed on the track would be the other competitors for this race."

Daiki makes a run down on the cars he'll be facing off against. On first is a silver Mazda FD3S RX-7 Spirit R type A, the silver Honda NSX which he'll be driving, a white Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution 7 RS, a white Mercedes Benz CLK 230 coupe, a Ford FPV GT sport, and Shimizu's blue Nissan R390 GT-1 road car.

"A street R390?" Daiki wonders.
"DOn't be scared of it. I detuned my car for the sole purpose of our battle. It goes equal to that of the cars placed on this race today. Everything is set to your assurance of a fair match, Daiki." Shimizu assures.

"Gee. Thanks a lot for all this, Shimizu." Daiki thanks.
"After 10 minutes of a final run down among the Midnight Masters members, led by Shimizu, their race is about to begin.

Daiki gets in his NSX. Everything feels like it's fresh from Honda Motors itself. It'll be interesting for Daiki to make the first run of the said car. He buckles up and revs the car slowly in place. Shimizu boards his R390 and so did the others in their respective cars.

Chloe, watching from above could see a very weak but threatening red aura come out of the NSX. "Oh, Daiki..." she moaned in slight fear.
 
You are the modern Shuichi Shigeno , Congratulations.👍
I like much the InitialD , stages,ovas,manga.

Make videos with your chapters , I recommend you BT music.

Regards!
 
Last edited by a moderator:
You are the modern Shuichi Shigeno , Congratulations.👍
I like much the InitialD , stages,ovas,manga.

Make videos with your chapters , I recommend you BT music.

Regards!

Say that to MyogiWarrior34 bro, I'm here to spread the series. But thanks for the kind words. 👍

He does make videos too, albeit with Eurobeat music.
 
- Chapter 16: Crossing Boundaries -


IMG0017-3.jpg


The cars in the starting line of Suzuka Circuit are all set; and they are all like what Daiki has deduced in the beginning. He'll be riding a silver stock Honda NSX-R 2003 and his opponents would be riding the following: A Mazda RX-7 FD3S Spirit R, A white Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution 7 RS, A white Mercedes Benz CLK 230, A Ford FPV GT, and lastly - Shimizu's detuned R390 GT-1 road car.

What got Daiki's interest in this race is obviously Shimizu's car. It is a complete relic. And according to history, back in 1999, Nissan only produced 2 R390 road cars of that generation. One was owned and the other was left for the Nissan showroom. "How did he ever get hold of a car such as that?" He wondered.

In the R390, Shimizu just taps the steering wheel with his fingers waiting for the countdown to begin. "Well, my 390 maybe detuned, but majority of its stock parts are all race bred according to the Le Mans version - all except for the V8 engine it has. The Le Mans type holds 550+ horsepower while this one is as powerful as the Nismo 400R's RB engine... simply put, just 350 horses."

"Although I told him that the race was set to be fair for Daiki's part. The truth is... it'll narrow down only to a battle between him and I later on. Among the cars line up here, the only cars with a full advantage is my R390 and that stock NSX. Everybody knows that the NSX is a supercar in itself; it's capabilities are only limited according to A class standards. If Honda wanted to, they could increase the displacement of the NSX or change its engine to a much more powerful VTEC combination... but they don't." Shimizu uttered to himself.

"Daiki even doesn't seem ashamed or disgraced when I told him that the NSX would be his car for the race. He seems fine with it. Is it because he has driven one before?" He thought.

One of the members of the top group within Midnight Masters, Kawasaki Kochiiro, goes near the lights and starts the countdown from the pits. Another one from the typical tier raises the green flag, denoting that the countdown has begun.

The red light blinks on all sets. The drivers start to rev their engines; all but Shimizu. Even if he comes out of a cold start, there's not changing the fact that the R390 could obliterate all the other cars around.

The second light blinks on all sets. All drivers got hold of their raised e-brakes. Then the light turns green. A split second later before the lights turned green, Shimizu raised his tachometer level and by the time the lights turn green, he has made a huge cloud of smoke from behind his R390. All cars have blasted out of the starting point.

As Shimizu predicted, the NSX is a beast when on the podium position; he could easily outrun everybody else in it. The Evo 7 stays behind the two coupes with the Benz gaining on the Evo. All of a sudden...

IMG0018-3.jpg


The Benz decelerates upon noticing Shimizu close in. Shimizu's R390 blasts through the others as if they were just standing there. He cuts through the Evo 7 and places himself directly behind the Spirit R.

IMG0019-3.jpg


As they enter the next corner after the first reverse J turn, indicating the uphill chicane section, Shimizu passes the FD smoothly, boiling down to a race between Daiki and Shimizu. Daiki glances at his rearview mirror and wonders. "Shimizu... I thought this was a fair match...?"

"This is a fair match, Daiki." Shimizu uttered in his seat. "The race is actually down to a duel between us here in Suzuka. They're just in it for the background. This race is MEANT to be a duel!" Shimizu shouted as he closes his R390 on the NSX.

IMG0020.jpg


Shimizu gets as close as his tires could on the nylon road to close the gap. Daiki positions his car on the center of the road, setting up for the next corner and cuts through it by riding the nylon as what Shimizu did. On the short straight before there is an increase in elevation upon entering the final corner of the uphill chicane, Daiki's exit speed is slightly higher than the R390. This however, didn't stop Shimizu though from closing in. There's relatively a man's width worth of gap between the two.

IMG0021.jpg


Entering the last half of the chichane, both Daiki and Shimizu rode the nylon on the inside and both position for the last long corner of the chicane. "He's quite an aggressive fellow..." Daiki uttered. He was talking about Shimizu and his driving style. Yes, he is aggressive on the corners." The gap made is closed in at no time flat. "He's a top class driver. Why would he even bother to stay in a group like this? Take a breather perhaps? What's his logic in this?" Daiki thought.

IMG0022.jpg


It seems that, to Daiki, Shimizu's aggressive cornering and attack was too aggressive as they enter the last corner. Daiki has the inside completely but Shimizu's R390 understeers towards the center and outside of the road. But Shimizu isn't losing any pace. At all! The gap is still retained beside that fact.

IMG0023.jpg


Both drivers begin to increase their pace after passing through the uphill chicane section of the course. It is a bumper to bumper match. The next challenge is close: the L corner at the underpass. Behind them, some of the other racers veered off course and experienced tremendous understeer, trying to keep up with Daiki and Shimizu.

IMG0024.jpg


The FD came out unscathed but lost a tremendous amount of speed, making the gap between it and Shimizu's R390 expand. Daiki executes a perfectly planned out in out while Shimizu rides the nylon like a gutter.

Going past the checkpoint, Shimizu continues to tailgate the NSX, copying Daiki's line in the process. Neither driver however, didn't show any sign of pressure or adding pressure.

IMG0025.jpg


-Control Tower, Suzuka Circuit...-

Chloe sat there watching the entire race through the LCD screen. She isn't cheering for Daiki but she isn't cowering in fear over Daiki's dangerous rival. She just placed her palms over her chest, praying for Daiki's safe return. Then, all of a sudden, she felt like her heart skipped a beat. She could feel the presence again...

"Why...why is it on him? Of all people... why him!?" She thought.

"Daiki. Cherie. Survive this battle but don't do anything harsh for it..." She thought aloud. What could that 'thing' she's fearing of be?

-BACK with the race-

As the battle continues to progress, Shimizu knows that they're halfway through the course by now. "Daiki. From this point onwards... the race is more on what you do at Tokyo for sure!! I'll beat you on your own specialty!!" Shimizu said with a grin as he gets ready to overtake, positioning his car very close to the NSX!

IMG0026.jpg


"The next corner is my key!" Shimizu noted as he refers to the incoming J turn before the straightway. "I must say..." Daiki thought in the NSX. "You are a pretty good driver, Shimizu. And your car is a good and rarae one at that. I can't find any weaknesses on your car at all nor in your driving style. But this doesn't mean that I'll give in to your desires..." He said as he shifts a gear up.

The cars lunge forth as they shift one more gear before entering the braking zone of the corner. Entering at speeds of past 250 km/h, They immediately stomped on the brakes, downshifted to gear 3, and removed their foot off the gas simultaneously upon turning.

The NSX cuts on the inside giving Shimizu a run for his money. "Tsk. Too close" Shimizu noted. He lets the NSX pull away at the apex. He didn't mind this as he knows that once he enters the straightway, there's no stopping him at that point in time.

Once on the long straight, Shimizu's eyes narrowed. The gap between the NSX and R390 seem relatively large but is enough for Shimizu to tailgate the NSX again. He enters the slipstream and watches his car gain twice the acceleration it has.

Within seconds, Shimizu nudges his car to the right and attepmts to overtake Daiki before the turning point.

IMG0028.jpg


Daiki plans to intimidate the ambitious R390 and 200 meters before the braking point, he leans the car to the right. Shimizu sees this and just follows the NSX's movements. Unknown to Shimizu, this is a trap set by Daiki.

"I don't want any collisions here so I'll go with your flow." Shimizu noted as he too swerves the car slowly to the right. "Aha! I got you now." Daiki said with an evil grin.

As soon as they enter the braking point, the NSX brakes but the R390 brakes half a second later, thus gaining the lead from the side. "I win, Akiyama!" Shimizu said before braking.

Daiki's plan was right. As soon as Shimizu brakes, he just realized now that his outside tires are on the grass. When he turns after braking, the R390 begins to skid. Daiki closes in to a certain extent.

IMG0029.jpg


Both cars maintained their momentum at the center of the road.
"Crap! What is this!!" Shimizu said in an irate tone. He had no choice but to countersteer his way to safety. Holding his lead, he drifts his out of controlled R390 against the NSX losing speed in the process.

As Shimizu gains control, he veers off to the outside, giving Daiki in the NSX ample time and space to regain his lead. He rides the nylon like a gutter and regains control of the race.

"!!..."

Shimizu was amazed by his resilience. He selflessly placed himself in a dangerous position to intimidate him yet it didn't work. The gap increased and increased. Shimizu's last chance would have to be the low speed S-curve before the home stretch.

"I'm not through yet!!" Shimizu exclaimed as he presses a button in his dashboard. As he enters the corner, his tires begin to smoke while braking. While he enters the first corner at the high rpms of gear 2, his rear begins to slide. Yes, he turned off his TCS momentarily. "The traction control is nothing but a hindrance to this car's absolute power. I need to extract every bit of it to catch up and overtake this NSX!" He uttered.

IMG0030.jpg


Exiting the second half of the S curve, his car slides even more but Shimizu has full control of the car. "It's all down to the 390's acceleration!! Give it your all!!" He said, directing it to the car. As he shifts gears, a ball of fire bursts out of his exhaust, the revvs rise tremendously and the car chases after the NSX.

On the stretch, Daiki reclines in satisfaction.
Shimizu desperately tries to chase the NSX. But the gap was too big for him to regain. Afterall, despite the fearsome acceleration of the R390, he detuned it for the sake of a fair match.

IMG0031.jpg


Down the checkered line, Daiki has made a gap of exactly 50 meters from the incoming R390. He crosses the home stretch with a huge sigh.

IMG0032.jpg


Chloe runs down to the pits to see her lover.

Daiki and Shimizu decreased their cars paces and slowly drove them to the pits, through the exit. Once they parked, both drivers stepped out.
Shimizu stands up with a depressed look. He knew it was 50 meters. Daiki stands up with a smile; with not a care in the world of the battle. The only thing awkward about him? He sweated. His chest seems moist. It seems that he was pressured so much by the R390 during that drifting moment after the straight that got him to sweat. It's a sign that he was afraid of what is gonna happen but he let those feelings aside.

When Chloe saw Daiki, he runs and hugs him. "Daiki!!!!" Chloe cheered. "Are you alright, Cherie?" She asks.
"Yeah, Chloe. I am fine. It's nothing really."
"You sure! I'm so glad to hear that."

Daiki then turns to Shimizu, who was blushing over Daiki and Chloe's affair. Daiki walks over to Shimizu and declares his answer. "So... you won't be part of our team, is that what you're gonna say?"

"Actually, no." Daiki corrected.
"My answer would be on hold. I won't guarantee it is a yes. But I am not saying it is a no either." Daiki assured.
"So, you're still undecided on the matter?"
"We could say that. I just need to finish a few matters then I'll see where this is gonna go."
Daiki nods and leaves the area, with Chloe of course.

Shimizu stands there in awe. When Daiki declared the race, he thought that he is going into a suicidal battle. But no. He knew the result at the very beginning and was confident about it. "AKIYAMA!" Shimizu called out to him. Daiki turned his head and looks back at him.

"Thanks for the race!! It was a good learning experience!"
"I'M GLAD YOU THOUGHT OF IT THAT WAY. Come to my school at 6 PM I want to show you something."
"Sure!" Shimizu agreed.

He listens to the pink Porsche boxster ignite its engine and drive off; heading back to Tokyo.

-Akiyama Racing school 5:30 p.m.-

Daiki steps out of the drivers seat, escorts chloe to the said seat afterwards and says a few final words of the day.
"Was it your first time to go to Mie prefecture?" He asks her.
"It was. I never get to go anywhere else besides Tokyo, my workplace, and home."
"Although it wasn't like a date... the trip we had... I had fun riding with you today, Daiki." Chloe answered.
"Hmm. I'm glad you thought of it that way."
Both kissed on the lips to seal the deal as the sun goes down. Daiki watches the Boxster leave then walks over to his 350Z.
He raises the garage door of his car and looks to see what progress has been made.

His 350Z was equipped with the said type E body kit, with Nismo R tune rims, the 5-spoke type; bronze in color, a GT wing, and a lowered ride height. His car looks as if it came from the D1GP or a street version of the GT500 Z. His car now looks as if it's the 350Z S tune GT-GT type. He gave a smile and indirectly tells his mechanics "Good job. I'm happy with this."

He turns on the engine and listens to the car come alive.
The car sounds more like an RB26DETT than a VQ35DE. He raises the car's tachometer past 6500 rpm and the turbine hisses upon his release on the gas. "High pressure turbine... stable." He looks at the gauges, all giving a normal reading. He glances at his rearview mirror and plays with the gas. As soon as the wall reflects a yellowish color that coincides with a bang sound from the exhaust... he says "Exhaust piping. Stable." In place, he nudges the steering wheel left to right. "Steering sensitivity... stable."

He looks outside to see a dyno machine that wasn't turned off for a long time. "I guess my mechanics are too tired after this that they forgot to turn this off. I can't blame them for that." Before Daiki presses on the off button, he sees the dyno reading:

NISSAN 350Z [Z33]
DRIVETRAIN: FR
MASS: 1390 KG
MAX RPM READING: 9000 RPM
MAX POWER OUTPUT: 720 HP...

Daiki shows a grin seeing the number. "720 huh...?"
"My Z's an absolute monster now... I'd normally would request to detune this to 700 flat or 680 to my liking but... power doesn't matter to me. This is obviously an overdose... that I like."

He looks at the wall clock which reads: 5:58 p.m.

He remembered that he's gonna meet up with Shimizu.
He gets back on his car and slowly brings it out of the garage. Nobody is left in the campus but him. So he plays around with the gas some more, making erratic sounds around the area. The turbo hissing and the exhaust releasing bursts of fire every now and then... it's the devil's sound to Daiki's ears.

Unaware to Daiki, the aura that Chloe fears is showing when he gives off that evil smile just because of the immense power. As soon as he hears the 3.5L VH35L V8 up close, he stops playing with the car. He opens the lights of the Z and steps out.

The car that just arrived is the R390 of Shimizu.
"Daiki. What is it that you want to show me as to why you want me to come here?"
He smiled and tells him. "You want to experience the thrill of speed that your car doesn't right?"
He addresses Shimizu to the newly modified 350Z of his. Shimizu felt something in his legs as he saw the car. It looked a lot fearsome than his R390. The Z looks very intimidating.

"Let's take a run..." Daiki noted which caught Shimizu's attention. "...a run to the Wangan."

-AQUALINE PASS-

The Z just runs at a very slow pace of 100 km/h as it makes a turn on the toll gate. "Don't tell me this crappy speed is the one you want to show me..?" Shimizu wondered. "Take it easy." Daiki said. We'll get to that soon enough. You want me to challenge someone here?" Daiki asks. "If that's what it takes to satisfy me, then alright."

Daiki sees a black Mazdaspeed 6 on the side as soon as he exits the round of the 'tear drop'. The person driving seems to be French. He is with a woman, who is wearing a tight miniskirt and tank tops. All of a sudden... SLAP!! The girl walks away from the guy. "Was there something I said?" He thought aloud. His Mazdaspeed 6 on the other hand is painted in jade black, with neons on the chassis and a larger body kit equipped. His rims seem large and shiny... giving it the 'ricer' look, as defined by other Wangan commoners. "Would he do?" Shimizu wondered. "Let's give it a shot then."

As soon as the guy gets in, he turns on the ignition and is ready to leave the aqualine. "Another night another woman another break up. Why is it I can't score a girl when I want to?" Before I forget, the French guy's name is Pierre Leblanc. He makes use of the title 'a wangan racer' to woo the girls but as soon as he goes for the kill, he gets busted in the end, gets a slap on the cheek for being too aggressive or perhaps a kick to the groin. Even his Mazdaspeed 6 looks like a joke to many.

When Pierre payed the toll, he is ready to leave, he notices the Z at the far right of the road and accepts the challenge. He drives off in full acceleration hoping that it is enough to outrun the Z. When Daiki finishes paying, the Mazdaspeed 6 is now almost a hundred meters away. He shifts to 1 and causes an immediate burnout. His Z's tachometer erratically lunges on the red zone but it still gaining some speed. Daiki shifts immediately to gear 2, onwards.

Looking at the rearview mirror of his Mazda 6, Pierre seems relieved to see the Z not chasing after him. To tell you the truth, he's just running at a maximum of 248 km/h at gear 5. "That'll show him. This way, I get to get more girls once they find out this success of mine. Theyz have to believe me!!" All of a sudden, a car on Pierre's right rockets out of his side. He gives it a close look before it disappears. "Sackrebleu!" He shouted. It was Daiki's Z, running at an immense pace of 310 km/h and rising to past 324 km/h. Shimizu could barely hold his ground and grabs hold on the harness. Daiki never bothers to show any emotion or thrill over the Z's current capability. It's just fearsome to be in... driving at 330 km/h on a straight road. It's just madness.

What happened to Pierre? After Daiki passes him, all of a sudden... his engine blew. He spun out and stopped his car to safety. Looking at his headlights and side mirrors, they broke because of the immense strength of the Z that passed by. Is it because of that? Almost all cars that got passed by Daiki experienced engine trouble, their glasses breaking, or even their engine stalling for a moment. This isn't a coincidence now.

"Wow..." Shimizu thought aloud. "The Wangan is exhilirating!! It's just unbelievable!!" I can't believe it... It's so tempting."
"Go on... that ain't half of what Wangan Racing is all about... but that's the only thing I'll be showing you. You showed me circuit driving at our battle. This is just payback for that. A ride down the wangan. We've crossed each other's borders..."

What about that scenario where cars that got passed by Daiki experience mechanical failure? It might be what Chloe's fearing of. What is this entity that foreshadowed Daiki unexpectedly?


The Awakening is not fulfilled yet.

He's a worthy host for me. He'll do my tasks and my soon to be accomplishments.

That was but a warning.

But in order to fulfill this, I must be awakened completely.

Something in him prevents me from doing so.

Soon, I'd destroy that thing to ensure my arrival.

I've returned.

To Finish what I should've accomplished.

I will be that legend.

And Obliterate anyone foolish enough to stand against me.

No one would beat the Silver...

All those who'd oppress me, shall fear the blood that I'd leave behind.

The Legend Silverblood will return!!
 
- Chapter 17: Legends -

Daikoku Futo. A haven for most wangan drivers. It is a parking spot which seems exclusive for the likes of them as soon as the clock hits 7 in the evening. Today's event seems special in comparison to the other times. Why is that? The entire parking area seems full; you could barely even find a good parking space within the crowd of modified automobiles.

Among the automobiles in the area, there are a couple of familiar vehicles along the way. There's a silver RX-7 Spirit R with a red Toyota Altezza right next to it .A red S30 just across the FD is paired with a black R34 M-spec GT-R and a black NA2 Honda NSX-R, a couple of Porsches... no a Gembella; more specifically, an Avalance 997 and there's even a well maintained KPCG10 Hakosuka GT-R amongst the crowd. There's even an entire row of GT-R drivers in the area. On another side of the parking area, there's a crowd dedicated to the Evolutions and the Imprezas. Moments later, a couple of familiar car models enter the parking area, despite the fact that the place is packed.

A white BNR34 GT-R V-spec II N1 enters the place. The driver parks his car right infront of a blue Nissan R34 GT-R Z-tune, which seems to be the 19th. The driver of the white 34 steps out and looks at the horizon. "A lot of people today, isn't it my friend?" The man uttered. He had cunning looks for a foreigner, his foreign distinction is mostly based on his gold hair. He wears a Wallstreet brand black coat where it covers a POLO brand basic toned polo shirt. He's well known around the Wangan area and is a legend at that point. That's right. He is Raymond Yamazaki. And the person he's with who drove a white Ferrari 550 Maranello is his mechanic named Kazuhiko; and no, he isn't Kazuhiko Aizawa...

"You always come to this place Raymond. The last time I saw the place as packed as this was 4 years back, when you were but a young rookie climbing up your stats." Kazuhiko uttered.
"Well, the past is the past. You can call this instance deja vu." Raymond answered.

Moments later, a young kid driving a white striped purple RX-8 with a canard-based body kit enters the parking area. He seems out of it for some reason and happens to be searching for somebody whether in angst or fear. "A high school student?" Some of the drivers wondered.
"He's no pushover though." Another person answered.
"I've seen that X-8 before. He scored around 18 victories all in all if I remember clearly."

According to those statistics, he's none other than Shin Ayamazaki, a young gun of the Wangan century. His face really seems out of it as he browses through the crowd. "Good. He isn't here. I don't like it if that Z would challenge me again. I may have owned my RX-8 now but I cannot stand another loss in his hands ever again." He thought aloud.

Another driver, once more, enters the parking area. Driving a well maintained 930 based Porsche 911... an RUF CTR Yellowbird, to be exact, he parks right behind the RX-8. The person wears nothing but a hat in his head that carries the colors of Germany. His shirt, however, speaks out Jamaican. Another high class driver - Santana Swarovski. He's familiar with both wangan and touge areas.
"I may have went against her agreement on this but at least I vowed not to intrude on her personal business..." Santana uttered.

Then came the two reigning, rising champions of the Wangan - they arrived as a pair: a blue Chargespeed Defender Bodykit fitted RX-7 R1 and a Silver Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution 8 MR. The Evo was different...it doesn't sound like a traditionally modified Evolution. It is the MR-FQ400 type. The car seems more fierce in comparison to before; it now has canards and a carbon hood. This car is none other than Seiji Tsuchiya's pride and joy driven by he himself. His associate, driving the FD, is a well known 'wangan artist' Kazuhiko Aizawa. He sees Raymond from afar and gives a wave.

From behind the two of them comes another car... it seems different in comparison to others and not only is it because it is a B class car. But also, of all makes, it is a Honda. A Honda Integra DC5 type R fitted with a custom body kit. Painted in a sheet of Milano red, with the special hood and GT wing, it stood out as a Honda brand. You rarely get to see FF type cars on the wangan. This has got to be the first. It came along with the Evo and the FD recently mentioned. The person who stepped out of the Integra popped the hood open. His face seems a bit square like and shows qute a serious face. He has his hair combed well and is moderate in height, around 5'7. He carries a camera around giving him the impression that he is from a car magazine; a journalist. The name? He's Kazuhiko and Seiji's long time friend known under the name Keiichi Iwata.

"It's great to see you come Keiichi." Seiji said as he closes his door.
"I just saw you guys at the Edobashi junction along with a couple of other drivers so I followed you guys." Keiichi answered.
"Well..." Kazuhiko said as he notices the Integra. "You've done pretty well with your ride."

"The only thing left for this baby is a VTEC friendly turbo kit to bring out maximum power." Keiichi noted.
"You better be easy on what you say, man. The VTEC and a turbo don't mix at all. Understand that." Kazuhiko warned.
"Hey, he did mention about the word -friendly after the VTEC. It'll take time and if he lands on a good kind, it'll last long." Seiji assured.

A couple of strangers in the middle, who seem to own a BMW M3 CLS, a 1988 TVR resembling much a combination of the S30Z and the Porsche 944, a Yellow Evolution 7, and a midnight purple Skyline R34 2000 model, gathers everyone around. They approach the Swiss German looking foreigner standing next to the M3. He's famous around the area, as a non Japanese Wangan Legend - Karl Schneider. "Has anybody heard of the news around Tokyo's Metro?" Karl started.

The upcoming discussion made by Karl got the attention of Seiji and the rest of the mentioned audience. They approached and talked about stuff.

"Before we could even start" Karl interrupted as he saw Seiji and Raymond's faces, "let's give a warm welcome to a few of our prime drivers here: Seiji Tsuchiya and Raymond Yamazaki, este the Lightning Angel." The rest of the audience gave a warm of applause. Karl then gets serious and continues on to the main topic.

One of the audience members decided to share something with Karl. "Karl, have you heard of the rumors of a silver Z33 running down the Wangan?"
"A Z33? The only Zs I see here are just until the Z32 model kinds. It is rare to hear a Z33 run the area." Karl noted.
Raymond and Seiji's eyes flared as they know who they're talking about.

"Why didn't we hear from a driver such as himself. Is he even here? Are there any Z33 drivers around?" No one seems to answer, giving the impression that nobody owns a Fairlady Z33. "Thought so. So who is he?"

Seiji walks closer to Karl and dictates his side. "I know who it is. Its driver is named Daiki Akiyama."
Majority of the crowd was impressed with the news. They know Daiki Akiyama as the owner and head of the Akiyama racing school and nothing more. He being a Wangan driver is quite new to their ears.
"So... who has challenged this Z33 Akiyama person?" Karl said in a bragging manner.

The ones who raised their hand were Seiji, Shin, Santana, and Raymond. From the back, there are even more people raising their hands, summing up to a total of 59 racers who suffered defeat in Akiyama's hands on the Wangan.

"So many victims. No wonder he is good. He must be a legend. Yet, why is it that he isn't here?"
"Probably too busy with seculars?"
"Ah businessmen, their turmoil never ends."
Seiji said something in his mind. "Fools. you don't know him the way I do. He doesn't give a damn on things like this and doesn't attend them in general."

"But your battles were not witnessed, were they?" Another person from the crowd asked them.

"Well, it is because he ambush battles us and races us at times we don't usually race." Shin answered. "Well, your case Shin..." Karl frankly answered. "Is different. you ARE a high school student afterall, which makes you race at a much later time, in comparison to us."

"You know..." Karl thought. "All this chit chat about him is not enough to satisfy me. I need an explanation on his skill, though."
One person leaning on a sleet bay side blue tone BCNR33 GT-R V-spec LM, gives an idea. "How's say those who have battled Daiki's 350Z and could remember all the details explain it?"

"Shin." Seiji uttered. "Why don't you go first?"
"I dunno." He staggered. He drives but he can't describe driving as good as these veterans. "I dunno what is the best way to describe it but I'll try." Shin answered...

When he challenged me, it was at the trophy Dash at the New belt line. I just defeated my 18th rival, the last rival was a honda Prelude SiR. All of a sudden, when I was about to call it quits, he shows up. He flashes his headlights at me and I willingly accept. His car, by ear, sounds pretty weak in comparison to my turbo-ed RX-8. So I try to outrun him but all of a sudden, after I pass a truck and a van, he quickly appears infront of me. Out of fear, I turned the wheel of my car and it went to a spin. Lucky enough that I survived but it was the most humiliating defeat I got.

"Kinda reckless, don't ya think? Suddenly appearing right infront of your opponent is taking things too far." One of the lower tier members of the crowd commented.

Right after that, I asked someone from some shop to upgrade my RX-8. I believe it was a tuner shop owned by Mr. Yamazaki over there. he said pointing at Raymond's face. I got his mechanic to install a stage 5 turbo, where it boasted 600 hp on their dyno. I, this time, challenged him back at around Sunset of past mid-april. He accepted my race and we took it on C1.

"C1!? That's very bold of you. And with 600 horses at that?" Another rookie from amongst the crowd said in awe.

Despite the huge power difference, he still beat me. At the Shidome junction, he outran me, right after the dividers of C1. I avoided him ever since. I considered him as a bad luck experience. No matter what I do, I'd still lose to him.


"You're still a kid, Shin." Karl said patting his shoulder. "You still have time to develop your driving skill, if that is your passion to be after you graduate college, at least."

Raymond, crossing his arms, sounds very confident about his experience. "Well, a kid is a kid. But he happens to be the worthiest rival I have ever faced."

"Oh really, now, Mr. Hot shot legend. Tell us your side of the story." Keiichi uttered.

"Very well." Raymond uttered back.

We met at Daikoku Futo. At this very spot here. The place was empty. I was here before he did. He stared at my newly modified R34 that I tuned with Mine's co. Japan. I got myself a soda and that's where we caught eye to eye. He shows relatively enough sign of interest at my part to a battle. I noticed his Z as well... it was a fabrication of the Nismo S tune, by the way.

"I thought his Z is a basic one with Nismo rims?" Santana uttered.
"He must be experimenting with different tuning modules and designs, afterall, he is the owner of a famous Racing School. He has the finances." One of the ace tier crowd members uttered.

Then we did battle. The route was from Daikoku futo all the way down the Kanagawa section, past Edobashi, ending at the Trophy dash at the New Belt line. It was a close fight. I have the same case as Shin. There was a huge difference in power but he was able to control the race. He must have some pretty good tuning parts for his gearbox and overall drivetrain. His speed was quite exceptionable in comparison to my GT-R N1. He was a fine driver. I was about to win at the trophy dash but he got the best of me as soon as we hit 6th gear.

"Ah. Your 34's weakspot. The 6th gear. In order for him to reach past 210 km/h, his gearbox has to be adjusted." Kazuhiko Aizawa noted. He remembers his last two battles against Raymond.

"Well... with that said, we can see that This Akiyama person has pretty good connections with car part companies and institutions. He knows his thing and always has the upperhand." Raymond's mechanic said as he sits on the hood of the white 550 Maranello.

"Now..." Karl noted as he puts his hands on his pockets. "What about you Swarovski?"
"Mine was a pretty straightforward match at Hakone. I declared a match out of selfish reasons. I saw him with my ex."

"Ooh. Cheezy stuff..."
"Get serious!"

"It was a very close match. But he caught me on my 911's weakness and beats me to the goal. Self explanatory." Santana quickly finished.

"A straightforward match as that is still worthy to be taken into account." Some of the locals said.
"So even on the touge area, he can easily adapt. He's more like a monster than a driver."

"Heh. I am not afraid of him. I'm disgusted by him to tell you the truth." Seiji said in discontent.
He crosses his arms and faces his back on everyone else. "Why do you say that?" Keiichi wondered.

"He raced him twice already and lost both times." Kazuhiko said aloud.

"are you kidding me!? Seiji losing twice?"
"Doesn't he have that 41-0 victory before he came along?"
"I only know that he lost once and that is it. How could he lose twice against the same person? It's uncanny. He maybe faster than any of us combined."

"Don't think such nonsense, people." Karl explained. He is not a great person in Seiji's context. He only has good auto parts to support his driving."

"But what about that race against Shin? Only a highly skilled person could pull off a move like that without denting their vehicles..."

The entire meeting is soon to sound like a debate of whether Daiki is good or not.

"SHUT UP!!" Seiji said. "I detest him, but I don't want anybody to bad mouth the person who I am supposed to beat!!" Seiji said in rage. Everyone stopped talking for a moment. "I may have lost to him... but thanks to him, however... I have taken my Evo to the next level. SO if you have anything else to say about him... do it through me and prove my point, will ya!!" Seiji said in anger. No one ever bothered to battle him.

"Seiji..." Kazuhiko and Keiichi wondered in fear.

"SO Seiji..." Karl calmly started off. "What do you know about Akiyama's racing style from those two races?"

Seiji calms down and thinks about it. "It can only be explained in one technique: slipstreaming."
"Slipstreaming?"
"He makes good use of that technique very well. Drafting right behind your opponents to get a momentary boost in speed is well essential in the Wangan. For eons for those who have raced him... We have taken him lightly, not considering the outcome of the race. Sure his car is weak but it didn't prevent him from executing his attacks perfectly. He defeated most of us using that attack and that proves my point. I try to run away from him before he could even execute a slipstream but I always end up losing, reason being that he could get to me easily with no effort at all."

"Is that all that you can say?"

"Aside from the fact that he can exit corners at a much higher speed than what we could do, there's nothing more for me to say about him. That's how good he is." Seiji finishes.

"but there is more to that." A female, foreign like voice interrupted. She is wearing a pink jacket with her hood on and is leaning right next to a Pink RUF 3400S. Could she possibly be Chloe?

"Who are you?"

"Just a regular bystander." She explained; keeping her hood on.
"What do you know about Daiki and his supernatural talent of gaining at every rival he has, as what Tsuchiya said?" Karl asks her.
"Well... there's an entity possessing him."
"Entity you say?"
The crowd starts to wonder what's this entity she's talking about. It sounds awkward and weird. Who would believe such explanations?

"There was once a silver 280Z who has made a name for himself back in the 70's right?" She asked them all. Only a few amongst the crowd remember that 280Z.
"I thought that was but a myth. Or a legend that has faded?"
"What's it about?"
"The legendary 280Z. A true fighter. Striving to be the best, the driver of that Z died at the exact moment that it succeeded in its obligation."
"So... when he finally became the best... something bad happened to him?"

"That's what the legends say." the hooded girl continued. "A silver 280Z... tainted with the blood of its driver at the end. He was one of the very first legends of the Wangan. Before, there was once a silver Hakosuka that conquered the wangan. Then came this 280Z. It tried to be better than the Hakosuka but died trying. Because of his resilience, he achieved his goal... but he wasn't there to witness it."

"What's the involvement of this myth in our discussion about this Daiki fellow then?"

"Remember in our classic Japanese stories of reasons some spirits continue to linger about in this current world?"
"Yeah?" Everyone wondered.
"Well, this legend is no different. It seems that its spirit remains unrested."
"What on earth do you mean?" Karl Schneider wonders.

"This legendary ghost is still amongst the Wangan. Feeling as if its obligation is not over."
"What's its obligation then?"
"For somebody to beat it on the spot perhaps?"
"Defeat the ones who surpassed it?"
"A combination of both may well explain it." The hooded girl continued.

"Who on earth could have beaten it?"
"Well, because of modern technology" Kazuhiko hypothesized. "There's no better reason to see that the modern generation easily beats the first of its kind..."
"Unless..." Shin wonders for himself. "That he is only after a specific kind..."
"Kind of what?"
"Person or a specific kind of car that he is after..."

"Are you saying that it is after Z drivers?"
"Looks like I have a lot of explaining to do..." The hooded woman continued.
"It is like an awakening, as you can see..." she started. Before she could do so, Santana thinks that the discussion is getting dumber by the minute. "I did not come here to waste my time over some stupid Japanese bed time stories. I am outta here." He boards his Yellow Porsche and exits Daikoku Futo.

"Looks like to him, he detests the Japanese culture... for a foreigner that is." Keiichi thought.
"Anyway, what were you saying?" One from the crowd mentioned.
"...This thing... this spirit... selects someone as a host to continue his obligations... like a medium. Let's say that it fears to be targeted so it chases after those capable of beating his record by racing AND beating them, making sure his post is safe."

Before she could continues, Raymond wonders. "Being a current legend here, I don't see where this is going. But I have one important question to ask you, miss. How do you know all this things that we do not?"

"It's because..." the hooded girl said after a deep breath. "My ancestor has encountered this abomination."
"Abomination?"
"My grandfather... Jean Gilbert Fortescue used to pursue his passion for automobiles here in Japan. Surely, he was about to become such a great legend around Tokyo in the early times with his black Porsche 930 turbo. When he was capable enough of beating the previous legend, it appeared right before its eyes, glaring at it in fear, as my grandfather told me."

Everybody is starting to get fearful over the matter.

"That Z, showing an ominous aura, raced my grandfather. It was a close match. He was about to beat it until... drafting behind it, something in his car snapped sending it to a barrelroll down the Daiba junction. He got out alive but his entire body was paralyzed. He told me this right before his death. I remember that story every now and then, although I am not as passionate as he is about these things."

"Our condelences to your grandfather." Karl humbly commented.

"After my father's incident, other stories follow. Multiple numbers of street racers crashed trying to defeat the same car. After that, it rested for an entire decade by 1990, as history records it; because casualties of a car on the wangan crashing because it raced 'it' became inexistent."

"So... based on what you said... it gives us the impression that whoever trails that 280Z behind, suffers something horrible?"
The hooded girl just nodded.
"And according to those records, its host drives the same car as he did. A Z of all sorts. Now, I believe that it has reawakened, after 10 years of rest. It rested but not in peace. So all Z drivers right now, beware of this legend, I am telling you now. It is for your own good."

"Tell me." Seiji wonders. "Who are you?"

The hooded girl lowers her head and speaks softly. "I am but a messenger. A messenger of my grandfather. He doesn't want history to repeat itself. Neither do I want it either. This is for the future of racers everywhere."

"This discussion is pure bull! Like heck we would stop meeting up and driving just because of some myth around town."
"That's right. We're drivers with brave hearts. We face death hundreds of times running down the wangan past 200 kilometers for our entire lives."
"We just won't let anybody, claiming to carry a warning, stop us from driving."
"Let's get outta here."
"Who even invited her into the parking area in the first place?"

One by one, the cars leave... Until everybody left, the only ones remaining are Raymond, Shin, and Karl. "You heed my warning right?" The hooded girl asked them.
"I don't believe in such supernaturals but if it is for the best... what then should we do about it."
"I have a feeling that this person, Daiki Akiyama, was chosen by this 280Z ghost to be its host. It seeks the abilities of someone great behind the wheel of a Z to be considered as its host. He qualifies very well. His battle aura gives full evidence to my theories and feelings about the matter."

"You sound like you are quite close to Daiki. Mind if I know who you really are?" Raymond asked.
The hooded girl removes her hood and reveals her identity. A girl with blue eyes, slender gold and copper toned hair, with a French complexion around her face. She is Claudia Fortescue, also known as Chloe, Daiki's mate.

"I have this huge feeling that this legend has nested within him. I fear it. It won't be good once it has awakened. The legend of Silverblood. I thought it was over."

"Silverblood?"
"Is that the name of the legendary 280Z that crashed, trying to beat the Hakosuka's record?"
"That's the one." Chloe confirms.

"What should we do in order not to get mixed up in this?" Shin wonders.
"In saving yourselves, I advise you not to challenge Daiki Akiyama from this moment on." Chloe warned. "Silverblood has the uncanny ability to aid its host by giving it supernatural driving ability and god like speed but it comes with a price. The person possessed by it would lose control over himself and Silverblood would definitely take over. This in turn causes anybody trailing him from behind to experience a random form of catastrophe... like a heart ailment or something bad that would happen to their cars that would untimely result to at the most, death."

Shin gives a sigh of relief. "Glad enough that I have given up on beathing him. I was about to experience those when I faced him."
"DO you think that explains why he caught up with me in a 450 hp Z against my 590 hp R34 that time?"
"It's possible." Karl told Raymond. He immediately faced Chloe. "Would it stay with Daiki for long?"

"THe only possible answer to that, I think, is for Daiki to accept this fact declare battle, and win against Silverblood. But he cannot just declare it at once. His willpower to control himself might not be enough to withstand Silverblood's power. Silverblood could immediately take control of him without warning whenever a battle or race is commencing."

"All of this, was said by your grandfather at his deathbed?"
"I believe it though... real or not. THe superstitious phenomenon... I'm still unsure... But its presence and the news to cover it back in the 70's... that I believe is true."

"For now... he might linger around Tokyo if Daiki won't be racing. Just be on your guard. Even away from its host, Silverblood could present himself anytime anywhere." Chloe turns around and leaves the parking area. Before she could close the door of her 3400s, Karl approaches her.

"Miss" He said grabbing her by the arm. Chloe wonders what is it.
"Thank you for the warning. I will be on my guard against this... thing. True or not... I won't allow it to wreak havoc anytime soon."

"I wish I could trust you on that. You might risk your life giving dignity to your words. But I thank you as well for believing me."

As the 3400 leaves, a race commences. A group of Z and Impreza drivers are on a battle against Daiki Akiyama himself, who is running his E-tuned Fairlady at the Kanagawa straight. The 350Z however, possesses a blood red aura around it as it attempts to beat the crowd of die hard wannabes in their cars.

Daiki seems different tonight as he drives. What is it? His eyes. They are opaque; it looks as if whether he is sleep driving or is actually dead as he drives. Pressing on the gas furhter, his speed increases two fold: from 290 to 300 to 330 in a group of 5 seconds. He outruns the lower generation Zs and Imprezas and places himself directly infront of them. What for? As soon as he stays in the middle, something happens with the leading 300ZX and the GC8... the bolts in their front tires start to lose and in turn made them wobble. The Z gave up and slows down, but ends up crashing to another Z driver because his tailights, unknowingly died. As for the die hard Impreza, the wheel loosens and breaks free off the suspension, sending sparks all over the Impreza until it induces itself to a barrelroll. THe other drivers evaded the collisions but lost control in the process. Some spun out and collided with each other while others ran front first into the concrete walls. Half came out alive and seriously injured while others died in the crash.

Daiki speaks in his car, compelling about the incident with the ones behind him.

"Imbeciles. It's mindless of you guys to try and race me. Only he is worthy and capable of defeating me , if he dared. My mission is not over until I ensure my position as the top of the Tokyo Metropolitan. But in order to achieve this... I must be fully awakened. I shant hold myself in this container for long. I will break free of myself and accomplish what I should've done years ago. In order to be free... I must first remove the obstacle standing in the way of my presence... She must be eliminated..." It is obvious that Daiki isn't the one talking. Perhaps it could be...


Silverblood?
 
- Chapter 18: A Forever Love Lost -

The news of the crash down the Wangan Line is exposed as soon as the 7 AM news breaks. Daiki's Television at his own room was left on for the entire night. He looks exhausted. Does it have something to do with Silverblood's interference on his self control?

The news begins on screen:

"This is Aiko Masahiro for today's 7 o' clock news. There has been a major car crash near the Daikoku Futo district where a group of Nissan Zs and Subarus have crashed and are in a status far beyond repair. The local police have gathered around the area to surveillance the scene. There were a couple of drivers, who happen to be street racers, who have died; as the paramedics on the scene confirmed."

Daiki just woke up and could hear the news. He crunched up from his bed and sits upright. He looks at his clock, which has a recent photo of him with Chloe at the Tokyo Carnival. He looks at it with interest. Seeing Chloe's face first thing in the morning really pleases Daiki; giving him a boost of energy to get through the day.

He enters the bathroom in his felt robe and closes the door.

Ten minutes later, he gets out, all dressed for work - wearing a long sleeve One Simus brand polo shirt and matching slacks, walks over to his Z as soon as he gets to the garage and drives back to his racing School.

As soon as he gets to his office, he sees a newsletter on his desk, with a couple of letters in it. He sits down to check the newly arrived mail. While browsing through, he identifies them: "Bill...bill...junk mail... huh?" He stumbles upon something big, as big as a book but it isn't that thick. He looks at it and was amazed. It is a magazine featuring Chloe entitled 'French Fashion magazine'.

Before he could start reading the magazine, he sees a letter attached to it. By the looks of the handwriting, it is made by Chloe. He opens the letter and begins to read it:

Cherie,

Bonjour. This was just published yesterday and by tomorrow afternoon, this would be open to the public for sale. Lucky for you, I manage to get my hands on the very first copy courtesy of the President of our French Fashion Company. He says that I should share this with a friend, since it features me and all, tee hee. I want you to have this. I hope you enjoy this. If I remember clearly, there's a small segment on the magazine that features you in it. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoy help publish this. Call me if you have any free time; you know that just for you, I'll give leeway time for us.

With Love,
Chloe.


Daiki smiles upon reading it. "I can't wait to read that part though." He looks at the magazine again and is astonished by Chloe's beauty. "God she looks beautiful." His heart races once again. He places his left hand on his chest, identifying this familiar feeling. "So... I am in love with her." He concluded. Love is something that oftentimes hinders somebody from doing something - but this is different for Daiki's case. The feeling of love varies from person to person and he is no exception to the rule.

Someone knocks on his office door, making him fuss and childishly throw the magazine under his desk's drawer. "C-come in." He said. It's Naoko, who entered the door. "Oh, it's you Ms. Vice president."

"So that Chloe person is a CEO of a French fashion company, now is she?" She asked with a tired smile.
"Y...yeah. Sorry if I lied to you back then. I wasn't thinking straight that time."
Naoko just gave a warm smile back at him and said "It's alright. When people are in love, they tend to make a fool of themselves. It's alright Daiki."
"Naoko-san..."

Before Naoko was engulfed in her fantasies of her and Daiki once again, she immediately came to her senses and gives her report about a certain someone. "A-ah! Yes, the reason why I am here." She freaked out. "I have some helpful information that you might reconsider, sir." "What is it?" Daiki asked humbly. "It's about Kitana Tioseco."
"Hmm?"
"The reason why she isn't coming to class anymore is because... she has a boyfriend."
"Teen love, eh? How'd you know about this?"
"I saw her with somebody just last Thursday, and that time was supposed to be when she is off to the racing school. I was gonna approach her until I saw them..." Naoko blushes upon staggering in her report.
"Saw them what?"
"K...ki...ki...kiss..." Naoko said.
"They did?" Daiki confirmed.
"y-yeah. I was completely shocked. It was quite immoral don't you think? It surprised me!" Naoko said in complete guilt and shock.
"Kids these days." Daiki said, crossing his arms and feet. "If she doesn't come to class soon, I have to personally call her and give her a piece of our minds. A matter of irresponsibility is not acceptable in my school. Racing isn't a mere game, she has to understand that. Naoko, remind me of that tomorrow, okay? I'm too busy right now to comprehend such an irritant in my school."
"Understood, boss." Naoko said as she bows courteously and leaves the room.

As soon as Naoko leaves, Daiki gives a huge sigh and stretches his arms and legs. "Man, I can't stand going from happy to serious in a flash. It's stressful on my part. At least that is over." He groaned. "So Kitana is in love. At this very age of hers? Isn't she a bit too young for such things? She's like what? 14? Too early to be getting into a relationship if you ask me."

He opens the drawer of his desk and takes the magazine out.
He looks at it with sincerity.
Chloemag.png

"This calls for a celebration."

Ring Ring...

Chloe was celebrating along with her colleagues at a food court by the mall, eating soft serve chocolate and strawberry ice creams in Belgian waffle cones. Chloe felt her cell phone ring in between her chest. "You keep your phone there?" One of the female models asked her. "Yeah. It's for protection." Chloe answered. "Ah! I see where this goes: If a robber tries to rob your phone off you, not only would he be judged for robbery but for sexual harassment as well. Nice thinking, Chloe." Another beautiful Italian female model commented.
"Well, I have you girls to thank for that." Chloe assured. "Now please excuse me for a moment..."

She presses the call button to answer the call. She was in a rush so she never knew that it was Daiki.

"Bonjour?"
"Tres Bien, Chloe." A familiar voice replied.
"Daiki!!?" She immediately covers the other end of the phone and whispers to her peers "It's my boyfriend."
"ooh!" The group of female models reacted.
"I got your magazine. And you look breathtaking in it. You are really beautiful, mademoiselle."
Chloe blushed upon hearing the compliments. "T-thank you."
"Say, are you free this evening? I want to take you to a fancy dinner, you know, to celebrate. It's on me."
"I'd love to! We'll meet at 5:30 by the Shinjuku district."
"That's a fine time even for me. I'll bring my Z along and..."
Chloe was in shock upon hearing that Daiki would be bringing his Z. She's still in fear of Silverblood and doesn't want to be threatened by it; it'll disrupt the entire mood of the night. "No. No need for that, I'll bring by 3400 along. You can drive it instead."
"Oh? Did you know that I modded my Z to 700, is that why you don't want me to bring it?"
"Eh?"
"I understand. Your Boxster is a much safer car than mine at this moment. Alright. I'll give in to your wishes."
"Glad of you to understand, cherie."
"No problem. So, 5:30 at Shinjuku..."
"Yes."
"I love you. Au revior."
"Same to you." Chloe said finishing it off with a sound from her lips - a kiss sound. She hangs up and places her phone back in between her bosom.

"So you have a date tonight?"
"Y-yeah." Chloe answered in an embarrassed tone.
"I dunno what to wear though."
"Don't go for something fancy. Just go for casual. Fancy and too formal of an attire isn't in nowadays. Besides, thanks to the weather in Japan, we can't wear gowns. And the weather forecast did tell that it'll rain tonight."

"Then I guess, I will be wearing my jacket."
"We wish you the best, Chloe. So! What's this Daiki person like?"

Chloe thought that they'd never ask. She's anxious to tell them all about Daiki. When she started talking she never stopped until all the details were told to them.

Time flies and it is now 5:30 in the afternoon. The clouds thought are grayish, denoting incoming rain. Daiki is wearing a Kashmir coat and looks as if he just came from work. Chloe arrives in her Boxster and steps out to greet her mate. "I'm here. Did you wait long?"
"Nah. I just came." Chloe as she said never wore anything fancy. She just wore a shoulder less, short sleeve top covered with a short sleeve vest and a miniskirt with neutral toned stockings and clog like sandals. She had her hair done as well. She's not wearing her favorite beret tonight though.
"Shall we dine? I know this exquisite restaurant not too far away from here." He said as he buckles up on the Porsche's driver's seat.

"Thanks for all this, cherie." Chloe replied. "But you don't have to go this far. A family diner would be alright."
"Well, If you say so. I don't want to keep you waiting either. I hear that reservations there are hard to slit in."
With that all said and done, they drove off to a famous Family restaurant instead.

-6:45 p.m.-
Kitana was on the scene. Her boyfriend happens to be a city street racer. He is currently in a circuit race with a BMW M3, Mitsubishi 3000GT and a Mitsubishi Eclipse. Her boyfriend is driving a Porsche 911 (996) carrera GT3 and drove with finesse. He's in first place holding his lead against the others. The M3 is gaining on him with angst. "Damn... get the hell outta my way, 911!" He shouted in his seat. The M3 is holding a familiar yet threatening aura around it. The aura is scary, and is even threatening to Kitana's boyfriend but he tries to fight the fear. Entering an intersection at 200 kilometers, they brake. The M3 skidded to the outside expending the gap further. Her boyfriend was on a safe zone again.

A few blocks away, Kitana was watching the entire thing, on her interlinked phone whilst they never passed by her yet. "That's it. You can do it!" She called out to her boyfriend through the phone. They enter one corner and the M3 jumped through the sidewalk and gains on the 911's side.

"Grr! Darn you, you cheat!" The 911 driver hollered.
"Ha! This is mine!!" The M3 driver screamed. All of a sudden, his eyes turned opaque and a blood red aura engulfs the BMW for some reason. This presence sounds familiar and these street racers, however, never heard of it. It blasts with the 911 at speeds of 180 km/h. At that same moment however...

Daiki and Chloe finished eating and are walking down the rain soaked sidewalk to the car. There wasn't enough parking space to accommodate the Boxster so Daiki had to park on the other block. Chloe never minded this. Daiki, holding the umbrella escorts Chloe as they make their way to the car. Chloe begins to talk as if it is her last moment with him - telling him stories of everything they've been through.
"Say, Daiki. How long have we been together?"
"Seven Months, as far as I can tell. We met last April of this year."
"And now is November. I can't believe how time flies so fast. No matter how I look at it, no matter how I want time to slow down for us, it is so unforgiving."
"Don't think of it that way, my dear." Daiki assured as he embraces her on his side. "It's not how long the time we spent together matters. It is how meaningful the moment we had together that matters most of all. Life is short so we should give ample time and cherish it with all our life; especially the times we have with our love one."
"Oh Daiki." Chloe nests her head on his shoulder. "I love you so much."
"I love you too."
Daiki never felt that it sounds like it's their last moment together. But Chloe knows for sure. She knows that Silverblood is after her to get rid of her. She is the only person, blood related to her grandfather, who has witnessed Silverblood from the sides. Silverblood doesn't leave any witnesses, he gets rid of them by whatever car-related means necessary; explaining why all his combatants end up crashing or dying.

"From the moment we first laid eyes on each other, I knew you were the one, Daiki." Chloe commented.
"Is that how you think of me, Chloe? Because, I never experience the fact of loving somebody until I met you." Daiki replied.
"SO I am your first love?"
"You are the first and only love for me, Chloe." Daiki said blushing altogether.

The rain starts to pour harder and harder for some reason. A Half of Chloe never bothered to ignore what's about to happen; she knew that the rain has a meaning - a tragic meaning. But the other half of her kept ignoring this warning - all that she could think of is none other than being with Daiki. Daiki was a slave to his emotions and never bothered about anything else.

They were close to the rendezvous point with Kitana, who's at the other corner of the street they're about to cross. The BMW and the Porsche battle it out and as they enter the corner where Kitana is, Daiki and Chloe have reached the intersection. As the Porsche and BMW reach the exit of the corner, onto the straight, the BMW rockets from 180 to a sudden 200 km/h. The 911 stayed by its side; but not for long.

"No!" Kitana said as he saw her boyfriend's car release smoke out of the engine bay behind. She immediately caught eye of Daiki with Chloe. The BMW, despite the presence of Daiki and Chloe crossing the street, continues to force its way down the road. It had a wide body kit, hogging the entire roadway. Kitana continues to call out to them at the top of their lungs "GET OUTTA THE WAY! LOOK OUT!" But because of the loud engine noise of the M3 and the strong rain, her words never reached them.

Something within Chloe pounces on her to get to reality. When she got to her senses, she saw the incoming BMW M3, with its bright xenon lamps. Daiki didn't notice this as he was too in love to bother; he was looking only at his love, Chloe. She, on the other hand was conscious of what is happening, but it is too late. They are about to hit the M3. In a split second, Chloe knew that it is Silverblood - indirectly, it possesses a non-Z driver just for the sake of its awakening.
"So this is how it is... You got me, are you happy now? If this is how things would be, I swear that you'll be confined soon enough...Silverblood... There's somebody who can topple you down and end you for good even when I am gone." Chloe thought, directing it to the entity possessing the M3.

All of a sudden, as soon as Daiki was pushed by Chloe, he came to his senses. "What the hell?" He said in his mind. "C-chloe?" Chloe gives a sympathetic look at Daiki with a smile and a falling tear on her face. "W-what is this?"
Quickly Chloe utters out I-love-you in Japanese one last time from her lips until it happened. Daiki didn't hear her say it before the impact but he understood the figures out of her lips.

Daiki's body, technically his feet, was 5 centimeters away from making contact with the M3's left headlight and wheelbase. He landed on his left right shoulder. Witnessing the mayhem, the M3 ran over two things - the mid air umbrella Daiki was holding, and Daiki's savior - Chloe. Her body rolled up the windshield hitting her abdomen first until her body was sent upward by the M3's bodywork. Once the M3's body was passed, her torment wasn't done. Her left shoulder made direct contact with the M3's GT wing, dislocating it. She landed on her spine as soon as the M3 drove off. The Porsche that was chasing the M3 despite a smokey engine bay, came to a stop to help the injured victim.

Daiki, witnessing it happen, was in total shock. Right before his very eyes, Chloe was ran over. He can't feel his arms, nor his legs. He was in a total state of shock, most likely compared to a coma. Kitana only stood at a distance. She can't bear to watch.

Chloe's face was completely coated in blood with the rain washing it all away. Her entire body was blood spattered too, even her clothes. Her hair was soaked by the rain and the ends were dyed in her own blood. She's barely breathing and her heartbeat was weak - if in percentage, an estimate of 15 percent. 2 Blocks away, by chance, there was a medical hospital.

Daiki doesn't know what to do now - he wants to shout but he can't, he wants to run over and check her but he can't until Kitana's boyfriend calls him back to his senses. "HEY YOU! DON'T JUST STAND THERE! TAKE HER TO THE HOSPITAL."

Daiki has not time to wander over what happened. He heeds the guy's advice and runs to her. He carried her in his shoulders and ran to the hospital in the soaking rain. The weather was cold and he could see her breath. Each breath has a leeway of 5 seconds a breath - it's weak. He hurriedly ran to the hospital. He nearly ran out of stamina upon reaching the hospital. The security guard noticed him and ran to help him. With one last step, Daiki trips and sends him falling. He wants to save Chloe and twists his body in order that his back lands first. The guard immediately called out a stretcher from the information section, which spent no delayed time. Daiki lost consciousness while holding Chloe in his arms. He's still breathing, though; he just ran out of energy.

With no time wasted, the male and female nurses arrive with a stretcher, taking Chloe to the Emergency room. One nurse, carries Daiki to the waiting area...

Would Chloe be alright?
 
- Chapter 19: More Than Love -

What's practically relieving about the hospital at this time of the year is that there aren't that many people at all - just the typical groups: patients, nurses, and of course doctors. This didn't however change the facts that Chloe's life is on the line.

There are a couple of people in the emergency room, surgeons, doctors, and nurses more specifically, doing their best to bring Chloe back to her normal state. They're having a hard time though, right after analyzing her X-RAY. Daiki feels helpless outside the emergency room, sitting in a conveniently located set of chairs right next to the Emergency room.

He's trembling on his seat because he feels so worthless for his love.

"Why must it be her?" He said with her hands shaking on his knees. "It should have been me! I should be the one who got hit by that blasted M3!!"

"I feel... so useless..." He uttered with his head down.

One of the interns of the Tokyo General Hospital, Sakura Johina, walks past Daiki and can't help notice him. Why? He's shivering, with a couple of hicks to back it up. Sakura seems young to be a college intern of nursing; well... she IS an accelerated student at the age of 15. She looks quite attractive, as well. Her hair goes down all the way to her shoulders and is well combed.

She looks at Daiki with a concerned face. Sakura is a girl who wouldn't let things go this way. Hope is always her prime principle. She approaches Daiki and asks "Are you alright, sir?"

Daiki never uttered a word, although he heard her question.

Sakura looks at the light above the Emergency room door and concludes - "Is the one inside a friend of yours? Or perhaps somebody you care for so much?" she asks then looks at Daiki, who still has his head down.

"It's alright. Whoever that person you care for may be, I know they'll make it out fine." Sakura assured.

"How can you be so sure, little girl?" Daiki reacted in a serious tone. He stands up and acts like a wild man "I SAW THE CARNAGE RIGHT BEFORE MY EYES!! HOW CAN YOU JUST SAY THAT SHE'LL BE ALRIGHT!!?" He shouted.

Sakura was startled by Daiki's abnormal reaction. She takes a deep breath and counteracts that reaction with a firm explanation. "I don't know much of what happened, in comparison to you sir... but what I know is that... whatever happens... have hope for the future. Be positive about things - don't dwell on the negatives so much. It'll be good for you and her." Sakura answers.

One of Sakura's superiors approached her and told her to go to the medicine room for a requisition for another patient. "I'm sorry, sir. I have to go..."

Daiki takes her words into account. A moment ago, he was desperately hanging on to the hope of Chloe surviving that crash. She was still breathing that time... She's alive at that moment. Why on earth did he ever let his emotions and his negative thinking get the best of him, as soon as Chloe was brought to the emergency room. 'She's right.' he thought. 'I shouldn't have acted that way towards a young girl as her'.

"Wait!!" Daiki called out to Sakura.
Sakura gave way and looks at him back with a smile. "Yes?"
"I'm uh... sorry to have acted that way. I wasn't myself."
"It's alright. Some people who come here, who have witnessed things such as this act that way. Apology accepted...um... May I know your name, kind sir?"
"It's Daiki... Akiyama Daiki... I'd like to thank you... for your assuring words."
"You're welcome..." Sakura walks towards her responsibilities until...

"Miss... Your name... I'd like to know..."
Sakura staggers. Around the hospital, she's known by another name for the sole fact that she's not staying with her parents, who are overseas. She was taken in by a guardian, under the family name Musashiro, ever since she was a little girl... She was known as Akari but she couldn't dare tell him her true name or her other interns and superiors might get suspicious of her.
"It's Akari. Akari Musashiro." She said with one last smile to him.

"Akari... meaning Light..." Daiki thought aloud to himself.

"Um..." Before he could even say what he wanted to ask her, Sakura...erm... Akari is gone.

Right after that, the stretcher carrying Chloe came out of the Emergency Room on to her room right on the 4th floor. Daiki turns to see a couple of people carrying her stretcher to the elevator. Daiki approaches the doctor who is at the far back of the pack.

"Um... Doctor..."
"Hmm?" The Doctor turns to accompany Daiki.
"Is... she alright?"
"Is she related to you?"
"Y...yes... I'm her suitor..."
"Then it's safe for me to tell you this... Mr..."
"Daiki..." He introduced himself again.

The scene immediately shifts 15 minutes later. Daiki stands right infront of Chloe's room - 452. He's unsure whether to enter or not. "But I must be sure that she's okay. It's because of my stupid unawareness that got her to this. I have to make amends." With that, he enters the door with no hesitation. From behind, however, there's a young girl stalking Daiki from a distance, she watches him enter the door.
Who could that girl be?

Time check: 11:38 p.m.

The ECG right next to Chloe's bed depicts her current heart rate. Sad to say, it isn't looking any good. Her heart rate is quite slow, showing similar signs of sleep apnea. Chloe's face is bandaged with an oxygen mask placed right on her nose downwards until her chin.

Most of her body is bandaged as well. No wonder it took them 4 hours to operate on Chloe, even with around 4 doctors, 5 surgeons and 3 nurses aiding her. Daiki waits for the nurse to leave before he could approach her. As soon as the door behind him closes, he walks.

"Claudia..." Daiki softly uttered.
It seems that Chloe isn't responding to any word Daiki's saying. Could he be too late? Unlikely. The ECG still gets readings of her heart beat. She's still alive; probably asleep.

"What have I done?" Daiki said in desparation. Before he could even curse himself right infront of Chloe['s body], he thinks back on what Sakura...este... Akari told him:

I don't know much of what happened, in comparison to you sir... but what I know is that... whatever happens... have hope for the future. Be positive about things - don't dwell on the negatives so much. It'll be good for you and her."

He looks at Chloe with a concerned face. And thinks back on those good times they had, ever since they met. Daiki starts talking it out aloud, hoping that Chloe hears it.

"You know... you are the first girl I have ever fallen in love with. And I think... the last girl I'd ever fall in love with. I, have to admit, am the serious type of guy but because of you, I was able to feel, well... human again... I felt as if I was ransacked by endless secular troubles... but all of that changed... why? It was all because of you." Daiki said with a smile, directing it at her.

"You inspired me to do better. For all my life, as the head of my own racing school, I've been trotting on the same pace for years. I was about to give up on my passion. But because of you, Chloe... I was able to rekindle the inspiration of what cars meant to me. And I seem to have remembered what it was like to do so too..."

"Remember the time when we met your ex, Santana at Hakone? I swore to protect you no matter what. But just because of this recent experience... I felt that I have failed you. I don't want to think of it this way but... but..." Daiki suddenly shed a tear. "What I want to tell you is that you mean everything to me. I don't ever want to lose you. As of now, you mean the whole world to me. I wouldn't know what to do if ever you are gone... it is as if I can see my future already, and it is dim... dark... and I know I'll lose my way once again. I don't want to return to the past any longer."

As Daiki expresses his heart out, Chloe's eyes slowly open. She listens to every word that Daiki continues to say. She, however, didn't force herself to stand up. She could even barely open her lips.

"Daiki..." she said in her mind. "I was right... you are not like other men. I am glad to have met you... and have fallen for you... But one question about you is still left unanswered. What is special about you, Daiki, my love? I always yearned for an answer to that question of mine. I want to know what it is." She continue to think.

"One thing is for sure, though. You are the greatest racer I have ever met. When I was back at Europe, I used to race... Santana and I... I gave up on him and that because things start to get out of hand, and the generation of racing today... is not like what we wanted it to be. People tend to be selfish and only think of themselves with the prize... that's why I gave up on racing and moved here. But because of you... Daiki... my point of view on that changed, completely. And that... is what I have to thank you for...but..."

Chloe suddenly felt her heart is pounding hard against her. Her vision starts to blurr. Why must it come to this?

"D...Daiki... if only I knew... that you'd be Silverblood's host... I still won't waver my love for you... knowing that you'd be that... But I know... you can fight him..."

"Chloe..." Daiki said with a flood of tears pouring down his face. "Stay alive... If you do... We'll move to Europe! To Italy!! We'd live a happy life by the cliffside... where we can see a vast view of the bay... like Tokyo bay at Umihotaru parking area. You know? The place where we dated? I planned that just for the two of us and..."

"Italy?" She softly spoke. "I'll love that. I always wanted to live there..."

"C...Chloe?" Daiki wonders. She looks keenly at Daiki's eyes and tries to raise her hand up, just to wipe them off. Daiki immediately, out of love... holds her hand back.

"Is that a promise, cherie?" Chloe asked him.
"Yes... It is a promise... so fight it! Believe that you will live, Chloe..."
"That's good to hear..." Her voice starts to fade and linger. And the ECG receives a much slower heart rate at that point.

"C-Chloe...no..."

"Daiki... I know it musn't come to this... I know it shouldn't. But what can we do? It's human nature..."

"Human nature? Don't be foolish. We have to strive to survive... We have to keep living for each other!!" Daiki insisted.

"As much as my heart agrees with you... my body has already died... death is soon after my heart and it'll be all over by that point..."

"Don't say things like that! We will be together from this time onwards. As soon as you get out of this place, Let's live together... at peace... I know it'll work out between us. I know it will!"

"(It's too late for that...)" She said in return...

Her heart is starting to feel compressed. The time is close.

"C-chloe! no!"

"Daiki. Let me take this last opportunity to say something to you..."
"No... don't speak. Save your breath."
"When I first met you... You weren't like other men. You are special to me and you are the only one who has reached my heart the way I want it to. No, I am not lying... All of this is true. Now I know... that you are the one who would stop him."
"Stop who? I don't understand!"
"You'll know soon enough..."

The ECG continues to receive much weaker responses from Chloe's heart.

"and lastly... Daiki..."
"What is it?" He asked as he firmly holds on to Chloe's hand.
"I love you... forever more... even in death... I will always love you..."

Then it happened...
The ECG receives NO response... a straight line is all that it shows.
Chloe's hand slowly lets go of Daiki's firm hand and falls, slowly, down on the bed's comforter. Her eyes show no reflection. She's given it all she's got on her last talk with him. Her resilience is great but it didn't stop death from taking her away from Daiki.

"No...NO!!" Daiki panics and endlessly presses the emergency call-the-nurse red button. "Help! Somebody Help!!"

Outside the room, the girl stalking Daiki saw it all, from the moment they spoke until the moment Chloe became silent... She leans on the wall and sheds a small tear for Daiki. "If only we weren't there... this wouldn't have happened."

A man approaches the girl outside the room and takes her in.
"Come on... let's go home...


Kitana."
 
- Chapter 20: Goodbye My Love, Goodbye My Savior -

Daiki stayed with Chloe's body for the entire night. Even the nurses couldn't control him, male or female. He hoped that staying with Chloe's body could return the life force taken from her in order that she could open her eyes again, as what Daiki believes. But alas, all is lost. Claudia is gone for good. She has passed away. She was to be released by tuesday afternoon, a day from the day she died, to the Tokyo Morgue to be prepared for an onset burial. The relatives and work mates of Claudia, aside from Daiki, will be informed of this tragic news.

But Daiki went against all of that. Despite his words of desparation to the officials handling her in the hospital, his words were but sounds of tears falling into the ground - ignored and abandoned. The officials left him with no reply to his requests, leaving him, unfinished. He had no choice but to go home and get ready for tomorrow at his racing school, for security was ready to take him down if ever he resisted in following orders of the Municipal Hospital.

Tuesday, the next day, arrived.

Daiki wore some casual clothes, new ones, right after taking a bath. The only thing left unchanged in him is his face of regret and disproval. He looks as if he didn't get enough or any rest at that. He took his dark blue coat and his cellular phone and went out of his mansion. Boarding his 350Z, which still holds the E-type body kit, he calls Naoko's phone.

At the Akiyama Racing School...

Naoko just came, being a good example to her colleagues at school, and of course for being vice president. She can feel her phone ringing from her purse, not to mention the ring tone which was pretty loud - an instrumental MIDI format file of MOVE's Fly me so High. "Oh? It's Daiki..."

"Hello?"
"I won't be coming to work today."
"You are not coming? Why?"
Daiki didn't answer. He can't say that his mate died. The news would break out and things will further get complicated. He decided to keep it a secret from Naoko, his longest colleague in his racing school.
"I have a few papers outside the school's knowledge to take care of. It's rather important..."
"You're lying. I can tell." Knowing Daiki for a long period of time, Naoko knows when he is lying or not.
"Just inform anyone, if ever they ask, that I won't be coming to the school for this time around. It may take longer than expected, if ever that happens."

With that, Daiki hangs up.

"Huh? That doesn't sound like him at all. Could it have something to do with Chloe? Did they break up or something? Or..." Naoko was puzzled with millions of possible questions to Daiki's predicament.

Outside the school, a silver E-type body kit fitted Nissan 350Z with a universal GT wing, stands 2 blocks away. Daiki just gives a huge sigh and slowly brings the car to gear 1 and onto the Shutoku en route to the Morgue.

Coincidentially, a red Porsche 996 911 Carrera stops by the school.
"Are you sure you want to come back here?"
"I have to. After what I saw, I realize now that I have to finish this."
"How long were you absent?"
"For half a month, as long as the time we spent together."
"Just keep our relationship to a minimum okay? You're still a minor."
"Yeah. I know. I'll keep that in mind."
"I'll see you soon. Keep in touch, Kitana."
"Okay." She said finishing their conversation with a kiss on the cheek of her boyfriend.
She watches the 911 drive off into traffic before she turns to face the school. Kitana finally came to her senses that she completely forgot about the racing school she enrolled in. She doesn't want to end up like those other half-witted students who just slack off in school, whatever school that may be. "I have to apologize to Daiki-semai. He must be worried... Now that he knows of my absence..."

Entering the school, she looks for Daiki but stumbles across Naoko in the entrance. "G-Good Morning, Naoko-sensei. Have you seen Daiki-sempai?"
Naoko just waved her head sideways, denoting a no.
"Are you here to continue your studies? I, as vice president, would be taking care of your missed subjects and examinations from now on as long as your sempai is out."
"Guess I'll have to live with that..."
"Got a problem with that?" Naoko asked sarcastically.
"No-no. I'm good." She fussed in place.
"You better be. I'm gonna work you hard so that you can catch up to your other classmates. You better hurry." Naoko encouraged.

Time check on the event is around 12:27 p.m.

Daiki heads home to claim something from his garage. He called one of his helpers, perhaps his bodyguard, to prepare his personal Yacht by this afternoon. "Where would we be going sir?" The bodyguard asked.
"Italy."
"So soon?" He said in a surprised tone.
"I have a promise to keep to somebody I lost..." Daiki said softly in an off tone.
"Understood." The bodyguard firmly acclaimed.

Daiki rushes to the morgue afterwards.

Down the Wangan, at 2:30 in the afternoon...
A Dark Silver BMW M3 E46 CLS, a white Nissan SKyline GT-R R34 with a Nismo S tune bodykit and a Purple Mazda RX-8 type S made rounds together around the Shidome and Edobashi junction. The M3 leads the pack with the RX-8 and R34 side by side with each other, running down the Wangan straight at 200 km/h constant. As soon as they reach the Hamazaki junction, the White R34 enters C1, the M3 enters the New Belt Line route and the RX-8 enters Yokohane.

"Any sign of supernatural occurences?" The M3 driver asked them via radio.
"This is lightning angel by the Overpass at C1. No occurences here as of the moment. I'm heading back to Daikoku Futo. Staying here doing 8 rounds around C1 might be enough." The white R34 driver, driven by Raymond Yamazaki, mentioned.
"Good. I'll meet you there, Raymond. What about Yokohane?"
"This is Young Gun by The Yokohane District, entering the Daiba junction. I've at it here for around 4 tries already around the entire route and so sign of paranormal activities within the vehicles of the area. I'll be going as well to Daikoku Futo, Karl." The RX-8 driver reported.
"Very good, Shin. I'll see you two there within 10 minutes." Karl Schneider, the driver of the M3 CLS, puts the radio transceiver back in place and shifts gears - from gear 3 to gear 4 with the blast from his rear exhaust and the revving of his Inline 6 BMW engine, equipped with a turbine, bringing the car up to speeds of 300+ km/h by the trophy dash straightway.

At the Morgue...

"NO! I WON'T ALLOW IT!!" A shout from a room emerges.
"But sir, it's compulsory. We can't do anything about it. It has to be done or-"
"I DON'T CARE IF IT'S MANDATORY! I STILL WON'T ALLOW IT!! I'LL TAKE CARE OF THINGS MYSELF!!"
"We can't authorize you to do that, Mr. Akiyama." One of the Morgue's managers said to him. "We might be sued by law for unauthorized carrying of a corpse around Tokyo.
"SHE IS NOT A CORPSE! DON'T TREAT HER AS IF SHE IS A THING!!"
"Please, sir. Don't fuss. Besides, she's already dead and..."
"SHE ISN'T DEAD! I WILL NOT ACCEPT THAT!! I WON'T LET YOU LAY A FINGER ON HER!! THIS HAS TO-!"
"Sir. Let's make arrangements then, if this would suit your demands..."

Daiki takes a deep breath after his intense shouting, hoping to calm his senses down. "What do you have in mind."

"Allow us to do mandatory procedures up to the point where you decide to take over and she'll be all yours. We'll let you borrow our body bags in order for them not to be suspicious of your actions. We'll simply remove internal parts that would possibly rot in days, wash her in formalin to..."

"Exclude the formalin."

"But her body will..."

'NO FORMALIN! YOU UNDERSTAND!?" Daiki said in rage as he rapidly takes a scalpel out of the table and threatens the manager with it as he places it directly close to his nose.

"A-alright. No formalin then."

Daiki turns around, throws the scalpel and says a few words.
"From that point on, she's all mine?"

"Yes sir. But-"
"BUT WHAT?" HE continues to react in rage.
"Without Formalin, her body will continuously rot to the point that the scent to your nose is most disgraceful..."
"I'll just have to bathe her, then. Is that what you want to remind me?" Daiki guessed.

"I guess so..."

"Then that settles it. Start right now. Be sure it is done by an hour from now. just a few stitches to hold her body in place. DON'T MESS WITH HER FACE!!" Daiki warned once more before he opens the door.

He slams the door shut right behind him and leans on his 350Z.
Thinking about Chloe at that point, his personality changes. Moments ago, he sounds completely enraged. Now, he seems sympathetic with tears to back it up. He continues to cry his heart out, keeping his body upright by holding the Z with his hands.

"Chloe! Why...! Why must it end like this!!? Tell me!! Why must it be you."

An hour later, the necessary procedures were ready. Daiki was called into the cold room once again and is ready to claim her. Chloe's body was zipped up.

"No. Don't Zip it up."
"But?..."
"You heard me." He said in a weak threatening voice. "Just dress her up with long sleeve clothes and give her a rushed makeover - just something to hide all those pale spots and in order for it to look like she isn't dead."
"PLease wait for around 10 minutes sir. Just stand outside the door."
"I'll wait right here. Just commence with what you have to do."

While they pretty up Chloe for that reason, one of the workers in the morgue asks Daiki. "Tell me sir. Is this person that important to you?"
"She is. As of now, she means as much as my own life - the most precious thing that I have ever met. No value of money or any material object could par up to her value in my heart. That is why I am requesting all this from you guys. Before she died, we made a promise and I swore to keep that promise and turn it into a reality."

"Now we know your purpose sir, we apologize for our rudeness..."
"No I should apologize..."
"No I..."
"Let's talk later. WE have to finish this." The head of the morgue interrupts.

As soon as her body is done, it looks as if Chloe is just sleeping - only she isn't breathing. Sort of like sleep Apnea.
"Even in death... she looks beautiful..." Daiki thought aloud.
"Now, if you would just pay for our services, you can take her to where you want her to be..."
Daiki takes out a hundred thousand yen from his wallet and told them to keep the change. "Thanks for your help."

Carrying her like that time when she just got severely hit by the widebodied M3 that day, he took her to his Z and laid her body on to the passenger seat, even buckling her up for the ride.

By 4:30 p.m....

"Sir... you managed to... oh?" The bodyguard from awhile ago noticed.
Daiki carried Chloe to the yacht into his deck.
"Let's go. To San Reno Italy." Daiki commanded softly.

The commandeer of the yacht slowly brings the yacht out of the docks and up to speed past tokyo bay. "It will take us 2 days to reach italy." "I don't mind." Daiki assured the commandeer.

Wednesday...
6:28 a.m.... past the Indian Ocean...

Daiki didn't sleep and kept his eyes on two things - the ocean and Chloe's corpse, all dressed up beautifully. He looks intimately at her eyes and begins recalling the first time they met at Tokyo Park.
"She had troubles with her 3400S... I helped her out and it is when our hearts met. All because of that small thing that I am an expert at - cars." He thought.
He carresses his hand over her gold hair and sheds a small tear on his left eye. His right eye begins to water...

"From that point on..." Daiki said as he moves his fingertips around Chloe's arms. "we started seeing each other. Day after day. With not a care in the world. We only had one thought in mind - and it is to be together. I still didn't claim that it is love. We look after each other's needs and solved each other's problems when we had some... If only we talked more about serious stuff than something that excites us too much... we could've had an even more mutual understanding of each other's feelings... Boy was I a fool... a fool to my own heart. But still... I didn't mind... Being with her just made things worthwhile for me..."

Moving his fingers across and around her torso, including her chest's framework... Daiki recalls the dates they had, the encounter with Seiji and Santana... and even the times when they forgave and forgot. Times when things seem desperate and the only thing they have are each other.

Looking at the clock, Daiki knows that it is time to bathe her. He carries her to the bathroom and removes her clothes - including her brassiere and panty. Daiki can see the scar mard done on her chest lining - where the morgue people worked on to remove her soon to rot intestines. As soon as the tub was filled with lukewarm water, he slowly and caringly lowers Chloe's body, soaping every part of it with no signs of embarrassment. It was just them at that room. Even with the presence of the commandeer of the yacht and the bodyguard right on deck, he didn't mind. It is their time.

Right after that, he rinses her body off the soapy residue. He took a towel and wiped her dry - all the way from her face, neckline, shoulders, arms, breasts, waist, legs, and feet. Before he could even get her clothes... he looks at her face and recalls all the times when they kissed to make problems go away. He breaks into a stream of tears and hugs her body tight.

As soon as her body was dressed up...

He looks at Chloe's face and faces the ocean. He can see the boundary of Italy and tells the commandeer to slow the yacht down as soon as they reach the docks. There is a cliffside by the San Reno Docks. The Docks were stranded - nobody was there and the area seems foggy, even if the time is around 5 in the afternoon.

He carries Chloe's body to the exact spot he has decided to bury her. he took a shovel and marble tombstone in a backpack he has in his back; and Chloe's body in his hand infront of him. He walks 2 kilometers from the docks in a slow pace and bringes her body to the upper cliff of San Reno's Dock area.

He puts her body down next to the tree and and starts digging a hole big enough for her body to fit. Once done, he slowly puts her body down onto the hole. One last time, he looks at Chloe's face. He can't help but look as if he has fallen for her, even at death, one more time. He kneels down and says a few words.

"Claudia... I hope... even in death... you'd remember me... Just look at you... you look as if you're only sleeping... how Ironic... isn't it, Chloe?" I sure wish there was a way to change this..." He said, closing his eyes and approaching Chloe's face and...

Kissed her lips, holding her face with one hand. Afterwards, he raises himself up, grabs the shovel and before returning the soil...

"I guess... this is goodbye... You have been the one for me... Au Reviour..."

Bit by bit... Daiki returns the soil... and places the tombstone in place.

Daiki slowly walks back, with his arms in his pockets... to his yacht. He looks at Chloe's tombstone and faces the yacht. "Let's go home..."

By 11:30 p.m.... Daiki is fast asleep. And at that same moment... A recently commencing race ends up in a huge casualty. Wangan-tuned cars crashed on the sides of Yokohane With one car remaining on the route... standing unscarred with a blood red aura... an old Silver 280Z... whom we all know as... Silverblood...

7124_102855989730495_100000182824705_80312_1740906_n.jpg
 
- Chapter 21: Silverblood -

There was no sign of Daiki Akiyama after that Incident. Early November and he hasn't driven at the Wangan for long... It has been 3 days since Chloe passed and 2 days
since Daiki came home all the way from Italy. He didn't report for work, he didn't contact anyone he knew, he didn't even bother to ride his Z. You might be thinking... what happened to Chloe's Porsche Boxster?

Her RUF 3400S was placed in the Akiyama Racing School's garage - it was one night, at around 12:56 a.m. when the school was closed. Daiki brought the car into one empty garage space and locked the gate tight. No one will ever know, aside from Akiyama himself, what is inside that 'forbidden' garage gate.

As soon as he got home to his Mansion by the outskirts of Tokyo, he locked himself in his room and didn't bother to come out. The last thing he did before he "hibernated" was touching his lips, thinking back on the time when he kissed the lips of Chloe... erm... Chloe's 'cleansed' corpse. After that incident, nothing was heard from Daiki Akiyama for the past 2 days now...

Naoko, who was manning the entire racing school, was starting to worry over Daiki's predicament. She had tried calling his phone but to no avail. She even tried going to Daiki's place but the butlers would say the same thing everytime she's around - "Sorry ma'am. Our master doesn't wish to talk to anyone. I apologize on his behalf."

It's not that Naoko's getting suspicious of him. As his fellow co-worker, and admirer, she's simply concerned over Daiki's overall welfare. After another tough day, also the 5th day that Daiki didn't show up, Naoko was famished. "Phew. Now I see what Daiki is going through every single day of his life here." she thought aloud.

Before she could enter her office, a student called out to her. It was Kitana.
"Sempai! Wait a minute!" She hollered across the hallway.
"What is it, Kitana?" Naoko asked.
"Here!" She said, extending a folder and a small bag to Naoko's chest.
"What is this?" She kindly asked the young student.
"It's my report on drivetrain differences and as a bonus, I'm giving a sample of my butter cookie recipe to you.... and... um... here!" She hands over another small bag with has a red ribbon and a heart shaped letter stuck to it.
"Let me guess..."
"Oh, let me guess... it's for Daiki, isn't it?" Naoko sarcastically asked. She said that in that tone because she still remembers that PDA action she saw weeks back. She feels that she'd double crossing the meaning of loving somebody.
"Is it that obvious? Just give it to him. I want him to taste it too."
"Eh hehehehehe... alright. i will..." Naoko gave in and placed it next to her bag.

Kitana frolics to the exit and greets Naoko goodbye. But, with her face facing the door and not Naoko, she gave a sad frown. She knew what happened to Daiki's girlfriend and feels regretful of the matter. "If only that race didn't happen." Kitana thought.

"I'd love to give it to Daiki... but I am not sure if I could." Naoko thought.

She walked inside, got changed, and rode her car to the Shutoku. What's her car, if you may ask? It's a 1996 SW20 Toyota MR-2 GT-S. Coated in a metallic pine green paint and holds the TRD 2000GT widebody kit. She feels so proud of her car as soon as she rode it but she still couldn't get Daiki off her mind.

As soon as she passed the Daikoku-Kanagawa Toll gate, she pressed deeper on the gas and her MR-2 blasts off like a rocket. Her SW20 MR-2 carries a maximum output of 485 hp, turbocharged and has a level 5 low rev muffler. Her car drives smoothly down the straight road and her turbine is so quiet that you can't tell if it is a turbo or not, a GT or GT-S. She had it tuned perfectly...

It was a feeling she missed this whole time. She has been locked up in her work for too long. Now that she's out and running, she presses deeper on the accelerator. Her MR-2 swoops by the other passenger cars as if they are just merely sitting ducks. Naoko was able to reach speeds of 260 km/h and rising. The question, though, still remains... Is she good?

As soon as her car enters the C1 district, something caught her eye: a battle is commencing just 500 meters away from where she is. "That sound... a 20B rotary and a 2L Turbocharged V-TEC... a race is happening! Who could that be?" she wondered as she ups her pace and gets ready to observe who it is...

A purple RX-8 and a blood red Acura RSX Integra. The RX-8 looks quite different compared to its previous times around the Wangan. This one has a GT wing equipped with a Mazdaspeed Body. The stripes were removed and looks more mature than ever.

The RSX has a custom body kit with a universal GT wing attached on its back and a Mugen type Aerodynamic hood bolted in the front. The high toned hissing from the RSX is definitely a high rev turbine, bringing out 350 max horsepower more onto the standard 220 hp V-TEC engine. That sums up to an overall power output of 570 hp at the wheels. For an FF it sure could make such scary horsepower. Well, it's the Wangan. What do you expect?

"This guy is good. But doesn't he know that it's dangerous out on the Wangan tonight? Any day for that matter is unsuitable for racing out in the open. I won't allow it! That's why I must win!!" Shin uttered to himself. He's becoming more mature as well behind the wheel of his very own RX-8. He requested Raymond Yamazaki to change his bodykit and the rest of his car to suit his Wangan needs. Under Schneider's command, he needs to be strong, strong enough to stop other Wangan drivers from causing a scene that'll attract what they fear the most as of the moment.

The person in the RSX gives a grin on his face, proving the worth of his rival. "For a kid, you sure could do some skills out in the C1. Well, what do I expect out of a 600 HP RX-8?" He shifts gears from gear 4 to 5 and lets his car lead the race further ahead. A burst of flame comes out of his car's exhaust and lets his car feel the wind against the body.

Before he could even do so, he notices the upcoming MR-2 behind them...

"Hmm?" the RSX driver thought.
"No! Please, don't join in. I don't want to fight anyone." Shin pleaded. But the MR-2 just gains on the 2 B-class cars...

While that race commences, another race commences at the opposite side of the Wangan by the Edobashi junction - this time, it's an A-S class battle: a pink Nissan Skyline R34 GT-R, a BMW M3 CLS, and a silver Lancer Evolution 8 MR-FQ400. The M3 leads followed by the Evo and the R34. The drivers are definitely Seiji and Schneider in the Evo and the M3 respectively, but who's in the R34?

Inside the R34, there's a small picture of Raymond Yamazaki stuck in the rearview mirror. The driver seems to be a girl. She has red hair, all the way to her neck's end, and is wearing a white tank top with black jeans. Her name? Kallen Koizuki, Raymond's lover.

She seems to be holding her ground against Seiji's Evo as she slipstreams behind him. As soon as they exit the tunnel, Kallen breaks free off the slipstream and attacks the Evo on the inside, as it understeers to the outside.

Seiji doesn't seem to be bothered by the R34's attack and continues to regain ground as Kallen's R34 gains on the M3. "You're pretty good. I expected more from you, as a lady... To tell you the truth, I never look down on my rivals... You're lucky to have come close to my Evo's capabilities... But this is far from over" Seiji uttered.

Seiji's Evo counterattacks by slipstreaming behind the same R34 as the latter slipstreams likewise against the M3. "Hmm? Kallen Koizuki... the Wangan Princess... Raymond has told me stories of your capabilities... And it seems he is not lying... You have my respect, woman." Karl uttered as he looks at his rearview mirror.

Kallen never uttered a word as she makes her attack, she keeps her eyes glued on the M3's movements, hoping to gain the lead once Karl makes a mistake. Seiji on the other hand plans the same thing against Kallen.

At the C1's truck overpass, the 2 battles pass by: The RX-8, RSX, MR-2, and the M3, R34, and Evo 8. As soon as both races pass each other, something came up. Karl and Shin start to feel uneasy. For Shin, this was evident in his driving as his RX-8's rear fishtails at the rim of gear 5. The RSX driver, who happens to be Keiichi Iwata by the way, sees the mistake and makes his counterattack, gaining the lead over Shin. "you fool! You left your outside wide open!!" Keiichi uttered as he goes side by side with the RX-8 before the divider. Shin staggers in his driving which forces him to decelerate behind the RSX before reaching the divider. Naoko's still a bit far off back so her presence isn't quite disturbing to the group.

As for Schneider and the rest, they have just passed the dividers on their side of the road. Seiji's closing in on Kallen's BNR34 the same way as Kallen closing in on the BMW M3. The gap between the 3 cars are 5 millimeters each. As soon as the next right corner is up, it looked as if they are reading each other's minds: Seiji braked at the same point as Kallen and Schneider. Through the corner and out of the corner, the gap is still the same: 5 millimeters from the bumper of each car.

As for Keiichi, Shin, and Naoko, they already passed the dividers and are planning to go to the right lane, bringing them to the New Belt line district. Schneider, Seiji, and Kallen on the other hand are routing to the west bank of the Kanagawa line. Once they enter the district of both routes, the same feeling that Shin and Schneider felt reappears... this time, much stronger. "What is this feeling? It's like the feeling of fear..." Both of them thought aloud.

At speeds of 200+ km/h, they noticed something behind the last person among the group: Naoko and Seiji.

The round figure of a first generation Z... but more geometric, cancelling the 'first generation' adjective. The sound seems threatening... stronger than that of a V12 or an LS7 engine of a Corvette Z06. Schneider could see something only he, Seiji, and Kallen could figure out: an intense blood-red aura engulfing the unidentifiable Z chasing after them.

As soon as that happens, traffic behind them starts to shut down - literally: headlights and engines dying from behind, lights shattering from their posts, tires squealing, despite the fact that the other traffic cars are NOT racing. It sounded more like they crashed or something. Shin recalled all the descriptions that Chloe gave him, Schneider, and Raymond. Seiji and the rest don't know of this because they never bothered to listen and fled the parking lot when she was about to dictate the most important part of the Silverblood descriptions.

"He's here! Crap! Talk about bad timing..." Shin cursed the incoming old car. It looked as if the old car was running at 320 km/h constantly, even past the C1 district. The car behind Schneider is running at the same pace as the car trailing behind Shin and the rest. Shin desperately tries to nab the lead off Keiichi in order to trail them safely to the next parking lot. But before he could even take the lead, the old looking Z suddenly teleported next to him and reveals his outer body work: a 1978, second generation Z: The Nissan Fairlady 280Z with dim headlights, a wider S30 body and vintage rims as that of trailers... all in stock form except for one thing: the car sounded like it isn't stock. The window tint was blood red and so is the aura of the car. Shin could see it and was in fear. As soon as the 280Z revealed itself to Shin, it positions itself infront of the RX-8. Naoko didn't see this, nor did Keiichi yet Naoko can detect Shin's staggering line. Seconds later, the weirdest thing happened with Shin's RX-8. The bolts of his GT wing are starting to loosen and SNAP!

The GT wing snaps off the RX-8's body rolling down the road like a ball loose on the streets. Keiichi was too busy to look at his rearview mirror and continues to drive straight ahead. Naoko, on the other hand swerves to the side immediately before getting hit by the rolling obstacle. "What in the world was that? His wing was alright a moment ago... what happened to it? There's no way that it has something to do with this RX-8's movements..." Naoko wondered. Well, she was right. The only thing she didn't know that it was Silverblood's curse was on Shin, the moment it placed itself infront of the car.

As for Schneider and the other A-class drivers...

Likewise, Silverblood closes in on Schneider's M3, When Silverblood passes Kallen halfway, the engine of the R34 slows down a bit, it was as if the acceleration was cut by a quarter even if Kallen had her foot down all the way. "What in the world?"
"What's with this woman?" Seiji wondered. "Why on earth would she slow down when she already has the chance of retaking the lead from that M3?"

Little did the 2 of them know is that, like what happened to Shin, Silverblood's curse has fallen on Kallen. The only reason why Seiji was unaffected is because he's positioned behind Kallen, much like the slipstream principle; but it won't help him for long. Like with the RX-8, the weirdest of things happens to Kallen's R34... her side mirrors snap and were sent flying towards Seiji's Evolution. Seiji didn't budge and only felt it when it snaps one of his side mirrors away.

Schneider notices this and opens his hazard lights. Silverblood knows when its rivals give up so it swerves outside of the line of racers and makes its way, disappearing infront of Schneider in the process. "Silverblood... the next time we meet... I'll be the one to take you out." Schneider swore.
Kallen was still in a state of shock: how could her pink R34 lose such power on the straights and get her side mirrors loose?
Seiji was doubtful of the situation as well.

Back with Keiichi and the others:

Naoko still gains on Shin and Keiichi. To Shin, he could see Silverblood going side by side with Keiichi's RSX. Because he is still right in Silverblood's Vicinity, Shin was so fearful of Silverblood that he forced himself to slow down, letting Naoko overtake. "What's with him? No matter. I'm going to chase this RSX and take the lead!" Naoko assured. Now, she's joining in the race for good while they are on the Daiba route of the New belt line. But it didn't last long for Naoko. Why? Her MR-2's fan belt suddenly snaps, forcing her to slow down as well? "What the!?" She shouted. "I haven't even started yet!" Reason to this phenomenon is that she's right behind Silverblood at that time. It all boils down to Keiichi and Silverblood.

2 minutes later, the rest of the straight road of the New Belt line was cleared. Keiichi and Silverblood are making their way to the overpass back onto C1. A hard right corner and they're still side by side; Keiichi doesn't know of this though. He slows down, letting Silverblood take the lead on the corner's entry: fatality is coming at him as upon braking, his tires lock up; he couldn't corner as well as he planned. His RSX understeers and crashes onto the wall. Lucky for him, he crashed at quite a slow speed, only wrecking his front bumper in the collision.


Soon... all of the modern generation will fall...

New machines will bow down to their predecessor!

There will only be one Shutoku warrior.

Only one will rule the highways in a speed that they dare take pride on...

a speed that everybody takes for granted...

a speed only fit for the Blood red Silver Z!!
 
- Chapter 22: True Blood -

The rain pours heavily on downtown Tokyo. Despite this, most of the population are ready for it. Majority of pedestrians are wearing their rain coats, jackets, waterproof sweaters and their umbrellas at hand. This was true also about the children too.

At the Shinjuku district, it is all the same. Many people, many commuter vehicles, many umbrellas from a birds eye view.

At the outskirts of Tokyo's borders, there's one place which is as gloomy as the weather itself: Daiki Akiyama's humble abode. His mansion, in this cloudy weather looks as if it is a horror movie's set. No lights were on, not even outside of the house either. His 350Z is soaking in the rain for a long time now and no one is around to check up, guard, or even clean up the place. Daiki had his servants on leave momentarily as he wants to be alone for a while. Still grieving over the loss of his beloved Claudia Fortescue, he hasn't eaten for almost 2 weeks.

Naoko drops by every now and then but he ignores the ringing of the doorbell. All his mail, 2 weeks worth, is crunched up on the mailbox and his lawn hasn't been trimmed for the same amount of time. He hasn't bathed either. He didn't change clothes either and he is still wearing a normal white shirt with thick black slacks. His hair seems messed up, giving us the image that he had sleepless nights; well, we could say that is the only thing he does.

He can't think straight, stand straight, anything at all, he can't do it straight. The only thing lingering in his mind are images of him and Chloe.

As lightning strikes at the background, someone's shadow is exposed infront of the Akiyama household - a young teenage girl who is wearing a nurse's outfit. She's Saku- no... Akari Musashiro. On her way to the hospital that she works, she lets the cab driver pull over as soon as she sees the characters A-ki-ya-ma on the engraved Mansion wall.

"So this is where Mr. Akiyama Lives. Well, there are a lot of Akiyamas in Japan nationwide. I guess I am lucky to stumble across the right Akiyama... I think."

Sakura presses the doorbell and at Daiki's room, he could hear the ring.

"Mr. Akiyama-san?"
"..."
"It's Akari from the hospital... You know, Tokyo medical hospital."

She waited in the soaking rain for almost 5 minutes waiting for a reply. "I guess nobody is home." When she turns to walk towards her destination, she hears Daiki's reply from the telecom that she was just speaking through.

"I'm sorry if I made you wait, Ms. Sakura."

She runs to the telecom again and answers his reply while fixing her hair. "Oh no. It's no problem at all."

Daiki didn't give a reply again. Is she making this young girl wait?
The only thing that is keeping sound to this scenario is the falling rain. Every drop making a somewhat loud splash down the pavement.

"Are you... um... alright?"
"Define to me 'alright'..."
"So it seems you haven't recovered yet." She realized in a soft tone. "The doctors who were assigned to your beloved told me the whole thing. I saw one of them during my breaks and told me the whole thing. I know it is hard Mr. Akiyama but... let's try to look at things in a different aspect, shall we?"

She opens her bag and looks for the book that she wants to share with him but...

"Oh. It seems I left it at home." She told herself. "Now what?"

"Coincidentially, 2 boys wearing formal attire walks by Akari. One has long spikey hair that resembles like that of Gundam Seed's Kira Yamato, only black in color while the other boy has flat rounded hair but his distinction is that he has glasses. Both seem to be in their early teens, in comparison to Sakura who is in her mid teen-age. To Akari, one of them looks familiar. She presses the telecom and tells Daiki "Could you wait for a moment, please?"

She waits for 20 seconds until she hears Daiki's solemn "Okay."

Running to the boys, Sakura calls out one of their names. "Tomo-chan!"
"Uh?" The spikey haired boy reacts. "Ah! Akari!" Tomo answers. It is a Saturday so its no surprise to see young boys out in the morning wearing formal attire - long sleeve polo shirts with neckties paired with matching and contrasting slacks and fitted with leather shoes in the bottom.

"You're preaching today?" Akari asked them. Tomo nods his head. "Kaede forced me to." He was referring to the one with glasses. "Hey! It's for a good cause you know." From Akari's statement, the two young boys are Jehovah's Witnesses doing their weekly preaching activity around Tokyo. Tokyo's Eastern border seems to be their current territory. "Why aren't you Akari?" Kaede asked.

"Well... I'm still on my internship at Downtown Tokyo Medical Hospital." She answers cheerfully.
"And how old are you exactly?"
"C'mon. Enough with the Q&A Kaede. What is it you need?" Tomo interrupts.

"Oh!" She gasped. "Do you have an extra copy of the 'What does the Bible Really Teach' book?"
"I do. Here." Kaede answers as he offers Akari the extra copy. "I still got a spare in my bag so you can have it. What for?"
"Your share of preaching perhaps?" Tomo sarcastically comments.
"You could say that. I still have an hour to go and the Medical hospital is just a 20 minute brisk walk from here so I still have time."

"Well, we better get going. Tomo and I still have a lot of ground to cover."
"Yeah. See you Akari." Tomo bids as he and Kaede walk to the next corner onwards.

Akari frolics over to the telecom and talks with Daiki again.
"Sorry to have kept you waiting." Akari apologizes.
"It's alright. I have nothing better to do anyway..."
She turns to the page about death before they start the next conversation...
"Ah! Here we go. I have something to share with you. It's about How we can cope with death of a loved one."

"Do you think it is God's will for our loved ones to die? What do you think?" Akari opens a question.
"Is this about religion? I have to be honest with you. I'm not that much of a religiously inclined person but I can give an answer to that. If it is a will... then... I have to say yes." Daiki answers.
"Well... I have to apologize in advance, Mr. Akiyama-san. To tell you the truth... we are destined to live forever; that is what God intended for us."
"If that is the case, then why must people die, anyway?"
"It dates back to the first Man and Woman on earth. We were made to last forever as I've said but they've committed something that made perfection a price to pay for - sin. Because they sinned, we die." Akari answers that question of Daiki's.

"What must I do about it then? Now that my love has died right before my eyes?" Daiki asked in a sentimental tone.
"You've said that you're not that inclined to religion, right Mr. Akiyama? Well... we don't have to grief about it day in day out. We have to stand strong. Don't you think that's what Ms. Fortescue wants from you?"

Learning of that last statement made Daiki wonder. He recalls the last words that Chloe told him aside from 'I love you' before she got hit by the rampaging BMW M3 before her death.

"Hmph... Well now that her spirit is in heaven, I have nothing to worry about thanks to what you have said."
"It's nothing really. But about that spirit thing. Let me clarify that to you. You see, There's no soul or spirit that detaches from us when we die. We, ourselves are living souls. The dead are dead souls. So when we die, the soul dies. As for the spirit, it is merely the life force that sustains us when we are alive. Without it, we're dead. So now you have a clear view of the words soul and spirit and I don't think you should mix them up, well that's how I want to view it from you...I know it is hard to believe but if you have the time, try to understand and ponder over it."

Daiki never said a word after that.

"Well, I've tried." She thought. "I'll just leave this book in your mailbox. I hope you find it helpful." Akari told Daiki before she leaves.

After taking a few momentary steps, Daiki tells her one last thing. "Ms. Akari... thank you. You really live up to your name... Your name meaning... light... Arigato."

As Akari makes her leave, Daiki freshens up and wants to leave his place for a while. He wants to ponder over what Akari told him by going to the wangan, even at this rainy weather.

[SHUTOKU EXPRESSWAY 12:40 P.M. WANGAN LINE]

A Silver 350Z, with its Nismo S-tune body kit in place runs down the Wangan at a smooth pace of 100 km/h. Inside, the air condition is turned to low as the driver, Daiki, thinks about what he and Akari just discussed.

From behind, a white BNR34 tailgates him. Daiki looks at his rearview mirror to see a familiar R34 behind him. "Yamazaki?" He thought.

They reach Daikoku Futo Parking area and parked their cars to have a chat.

"So the host of silverblood shows himself." Raymond shouts in an undertone.
"Silverblood's host? What on earth are you talking about?"
"So you didn't know? Nobody told you? Perhaps they're too scared of you now that some know of your deep dark secret." Raymond continues.

"I believe what you're saying is nonsense. It sounds hard to believe." Daiki humbly answers.
"True. But facts are facts my boy. The crashes here in Tokyo's Wangan area are no laughing matter, nor are they coincidences. When you're not around... or perhaps we could even say when YOU are not around, HE emerges and wreaks havoc around here."

"Who?"
"Silverblood. A legendary entity that lingers around Tokyo's Wangan having something unfinished."
Daiki was just silent with a confused look. "Yes I know it sounds hard to believe but that's the only lead we have about these crashes. It has been proven already by Shin and Schneider; even my girl Kallen was a close victim to this... Silverblood."
Daiki's face changed to something serious.

"Well, I figure that it's best you know of this so that you know what's happening. When this gets out of hand, It won't be a pretty sight you know. That's all I have to say."

"If this monstrosity is inside of me... then why are you helping me?"

Raymond, before he could board his R34 freezes and thinks of an answer. "Why? Well, it's because I want a clean fair rematch against you when this is over. Not even Seiji and not even Silverblood would stand in my way of making this goal of mine come true."

The white Skyline slowly leaves Daikoku Futo leaving Daiki puzzled.

That night, when Daiki is asleep, Silverblood emerges out on the Wangan again claiming hundreds of victims - commuters and street racers alike. The news, by next morning, reveals of 78 minor injured victims and 22 severly injured ones located at the Shutoku expressway.

When Daiki saw this in the news the next day, he was trembling. "So... this is what Yamazaki is telling me... Silverblood... what is he...? what is it?"
 
- Chapter 23: Candidates of Turmoil -

After Daiki and Raymond's last encounter that rainy day, the weather starts to haze into a bright tomorrow; and a bright tomorrow indeed. At the brink of 6:38 a.m., the sky seems to depict the same brightness as that of 2:00 in the afternoon; only cooler and more skin-friendly. A couple of street racers are still in the vicinity of the Kanagawa freeway district. What group of people ought to be out in broad daylight at this hour?

A nest of cars sit on the local parking area consisting of the following vehicles:

A silver BMW M3 CSL
A Midnight Purple Nissan Skyline GT-R R34
A Yellow Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution 7 GSR
A red TVR V8S
A blue Nissan SKyline GT-R R33 V-spec LM edition
A Red Subaru Legacy Blitzen
And a familiar looking purple Mazdaspeed RX-8 type S

It's Schneider's West Protection Division. It is a group made by Schneider which is also known as the Anti-Silverblood Task Force. With the incapacity of the local police to do a thing about the entire Silverblood scenario, Schneider decided that the only way to beat a Wangan Threat is with the aid of Wangan Masters, whether accepted by or denied by anyone involved in this matter.

"Status report on your assigned territories." Schneider calls out to the group.
"C1 has no unusual occurrences or accidents about." Said the driver of the Purple R34.
"New Belt line by Shidome is all normal" Reported the Evo driver.
"Nothing going about around Haneda." The TVR driver reported.

"Everything is fine by Shidome." The R33 driver reported.
"Well, that's good to hear eh, Colt?" Colt is the nickname of the R33 driver. He's an associate of Schneider's. "What about you Raven?"

"At the Wangan line? Even if my Legacy is C1 built, I'm glad to say that there's nothing going bad about the area." Raven, the Legacy Blitzen driver, reported.

"Well, it's better we not just upgrade the looks of your vehicle, Raven. Best yet, your gearbox as well. We need to make it Wangan Material. For a feisty girl as yourself you can hold on to high speeds, isn't that right Raven?" Colt joked around.

"Oh, shut up you old hag." Raven answered back to Colt.

"Schneider-san." Shin, who is leaning on his RX-8, interrupted. "What is it?" He returned the question back to Shin. "I have to go. I got classes by this afternoon." He reasons.

"Very well. Looks like we all have made a job well done. We best head back."

"I'm on route on the Wangan Line. Who's with me?" Schneider offers. The R34, Evo, and TVR drivers all raised their hands. "What about you other guys?"

"My place is already close from here." Colt answers.
"I still have to go somewhere else by the C1 district." Raven recalls.
"And my junction is already here. Sorry Schneider-san." Shin apologizes.

[10 minutes later]

The BMW M3 Leads the pack with the Evo, TVR, and R34 behind it respectively. At this same very moment, Daiki is still asleep in his place. There's just one thing odd about him at that hour. What is it? He's having some night terrors of his own. Again, he dreams of Chloe's death, repeatedly revealed to him through these night terrors. He tries to stop 'her' but fails every time. He moans in deep pain and sorrow for losing her time and again in his very own dreams, driving him nuts. Maybe not even Akari's words of encouragement helped him at this moment.

Back with Schneider, he feels uneasy as his car enters the Wangan Line district, right after passing by the toll gates. He quivers in his seat wondering what the hell is going to happen at this very moment.

As soon as his speedometer reads 301 km/h, his car starts to lost some needed power. "Huh? How come my M3 is slowing down?" He thought. "I just had the oil changed and the parts readjusted. Why the hell is this going o-" Then he remembers. "So he is here. He has shown himself."

As he cruises down the Wangan along with his group, a mysterious car emerges from behind the commuter vehicles...

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"Interesting..." Schneider groaned. He decelerated and lets the other 3 cars overtake him.

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The other drivers didn't wonder why Schneider would decelerate at a place such as this. Is he expecting a rival even at this hour? No matter, it must be Schneider's most important battle; so definitely, his rival must be...

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"...Silverblood... you're mine!!" Schneider enrages himself as he continues his press on the accelerator again. His M3's acceleration sky rockets and blasts past by his group's vehicles like they're just idling there in place.

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3 kilometers worth of straight road down and Silverblood's 280Z leans right behind Schneider's M3. The only problem with this placing is that Schneider's other group members are tailgating behind Silverblood; and you know what happens then!

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As they enter a high speed left bend, Right in front of the Evolution 7's front end, an image of Silverblood's Z losing control right in front of him.

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At the same moment as well, the driver of the Midnight Purple R34 experiences this same scenario too and is freaked out by the Z spinning wildly right at his front.

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Both drivers veered towards the inside, hoping to make it safely past the illusion. The only problem? Both cars are running at 310 km/h, a dangerous speed. They lost overall balance of their cars and before they knew it, they can't even countersteer themselves to safety. Soon hereafter, they collided with the inner wall and lost even more control over their cars!

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Schneider was too busy concentrating on holding his lead against Silverblood to notice the catastrophe commencing at his rear view mirror. Even the TVR V8S driver was so scared of silverblood that he downshifts the car by accident on the long straight and suddenly, his engine blew. His car's hood is already wrapped up in flames and it slowly ate the driver up as well until there was nothing left of the TVR.

"Grrr... I'm now at 328 km/h and I still couldn't shake this monstrosity off! Even a ghost car is just a car. It SHOULD have limits!" Schneider complained as he grits his teeth and more firmly holds the steering wheel of his M3. Concentrating too much on the battle, Schneider didn't take notice of the tachometer. It is in the red zone. His M3 lagged and gives Silverblood's Z the upper hand.

13463_103618792987548_100000182824705_101664_5163410_n.jpg


That wasn't the only problem. Silverblood desires victory. He'd do anything for victory... He makes another illusion as soon as the edge of his front gets closer and closer to the M3's. On the opposite side of the M3, there's another Silver 280Z!

13463_103618762987551_100000182824705_101655_6062100_n.jpg


"W...What the!?" Schneider was shocked of the sudden 'magic act' that his hands tremble as they grip on the steering wheel. His feet are shaking to the point that his subconsciousness veers off the clutch and hoping to stomp on the brakes instead. As fear engulfs his inner being, Silverblood makes good use of this moment and doubles his acceleration rate to bring an end to Schneider and his M3. Both Zs beside Schneider merge in front of him and finally claims the lead over the M3!

"W-Wha!?" Schneider gasped as he sees the Z right in front of his eyes.

13463_103618799654214_100000182824705_101666_2163551_n.jpg


"Oh no! I'm in a bad spot! I better get out of here!" Schneider freaks out in his seat as he tries to step on the brakes. But to no avail. His brakes aren't working. He lets go of his foot off the accelerator but the car still accelerates, as depicted by the tachometer's reading - going past 6000 onto 7000 rpm even with Schneider's foot off the gas.

"I've got no choice do I?" He thought. "I have to aim this perfectly." Schneider devises a plan that would hopefully make him flee from Silverblood's clutches and bring his car to a full stop. He turns the wheel to the side and raises his E-brake at a current speed of 335 km/h. The only thing that's life-saving about Schneider's M3 is that it has a well built roll cage that could withstand high speed roof-to-tarmac contact up to speeds of 300 km/h, like that of Le Mans cars.

Inducing his M3 to a barrel roll, He waits for his car to slow down. The only thing good about his condition right now is that he's in a straight. If it was a corner, he'd be jumping off the cliff and into his direct doom.

He continuously rolls down the long straight as the velocity of his car decreases. By the time his car comes to a halt... the M3 is totally shattered. The only thing left of the body is the rollcage. There are no doors left. There's not even a roof. One of the tires fell loose off the chassis and his windows are totally shattered. He steps out, completely bruised, but not critically bleeding, observing the menacing Z disappear right before his eyes.

"Silverblood... how could we comprehend such a life threatening beast? Was there a way to stop it? Or would we all suffer, like that of Ms. Fortescue's grandfather?" Schneider wondered as he calls for an EMS team and an Ambulance for assistance by the Wangan line's highway intersection...

Another set of victims for Silverblood, even if there's just one survivor of his onslaught. Who would be next?

By 6 P.M. in the evening, Daiki watches the evening news. He was trembling over the picture flashed on the television screen. He fell on his knees as he listens to the news.

"This is Hitoshi Takahashi reporting for the evening news. Just this late morning, local shutoku police have reported a group of vehicles that have crashed on the Shutoku line past the Daikoku Futo district. It has been reported to be a cause of reckless driving and excessive speeding. Local Federations are informing Tokyo residents taking route on the wangan to be watchful of the speed they drive on and have their vehicles double checked before attempting to drive at such dangerous speeds. SUch as the case, we want everybody to cooperate with the Shutoku checkpoints around the highway vicinity for a quick run down on each and every vehicle that must enter the Wangan area. They wish of everybody's cooperation to ensure the safety of the people, most especially, car drivers..."

"There it goes again... As what Yamazaki told me the day before..." Daiki thought aloud to himself.

"Is this what that thing... Silverblood does... when I am not around? Even in the morning?!"
 

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