At last! After another long wait, chapter 7 is up. Lemme know what you all think, okay?
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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.]
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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
® 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 Morishita 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?" Morishita 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...]
& quot;EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!????????????"
"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..."
This post has been edited by Gunma's 34 on Jun 4 2009, 07:08 AM