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***Concept Inspired by the Speed Legend series by Gunma's 34 / MyogiWarrior34.*** Hi there, welcome to "Saisoku no Gaiden" or "Chronicles of the Fastest" an original road-racing story written by JP Torres a.k.a Antares with elements inspired by the Wangan Midnight, Initial D anime series and the Gran Turismo racing video game series.
Hope you guys enjoy reading it and I'd greatly appreciate it if you leave comments, suggestions and constructive criticism. Once again, thank you.
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OVERVIEW ---SUMMARY--- The story is set in modern day Tokyo, on the Shuto Expressway, where the midnight road racing scene grows steadily, day by day. The main character, Takeshi Kajimoto, is an 18 year-old boy who aspires to become a professional racer, his dream takes him to the fast roads of Tokyo's Shutokou area, where he builds up his experience and improves on his skills.
Along the way, he meets people who will help him toward his goal, friends and rivals to test his skills to be a great driver. Though even if his experiences merit improvement, would he be able to escape the allure of road racing, or will he stand firm on his path to becoming a professional driver?
---MAIN CHARACTERS--- Takeshi Kajimoto Gender: Male Age: 18 Car/s: Mazda RX-7 Type-R [FD3S] Description: A young boy aspiring to become a professional racer, once a local racer of the Hanshin Expressway in Osaka, he takes to the streets of Tokyo in hopes of gaining newer experiences and hopefully, a ticket to be part of the world of pro racing. Though quite young, he is shown to be an exceptional driver and a capable tuner, as he had manually done most of the upgrades on his FD by himself, and fine-tuned them to suit his driving style. A shy person at first, he gradually becomes more social with people as he gets to know them longer. On the road though, he is gifted with exceptional skill, being able to utilize his car's full potential to come up with maneuvers that catches most of his opponents off-guard.
Shinichi Sawaki Gender: Male Age: 18 Car/s: Nissan Skyline GT-R V-Spec [BNR32] Description: A young racer regarded to be the ace of Team Synchro BLiTZ. A high school student in Tokyo, he lives the life of the everyday student by day and the dangerous life of the road racer by night. His R32 is tuned specifically for the Inner Circular Route or Route C1 and his driving is well suited for the area, to the point that he is considered to be one of the fastest along the whole of C1. His cheerful personality easily affects the rest of the team, and is the so-called class clown of the team.
Ryu Asakura Gender: Male Age: 19 Car/s: Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution V [CP9A] Description: One of the first members of Team Synchro BLiTZ, and sort of the vice-captain figure within the team. Ryu is a person affiliated with cars, working as a contributor to a local automotive magazine as his day job, he is very much knowledgeable when it comes to the various tuning methods of cars. His driving style being defensive-oriented, his Evo is tuned for responsive handling that allows him to disrupt any attack by an opponent using his defensive racing lines. A gifted tactician, he can also come up with strategies that would lead him to win races.
Lia Kusunoki Gender: Female Age: 18 Car/s: Mazda MX-5 [NCEC] Description: The only female member of Team Synchro BLiTZ, and considered to be the mother-figure of the group due to her worrisome personality. Fashion model by day, it's no surprise that Lia is an attractive girl, and only few are aware of her night life as a road racer. Her car is basically tuned to fit her driving style, which focuses on using high-speed drifts to compensate for the car's low power output. She is notorious within the team for being too worrisome around them, reprimanding them whenever they attempt risky or dangerous maneuvers in a race.
Hana Takahashi Gender: Female Age: 17 Car/s: Nissan Fairlady Z/300ZX [Z32] Description: Team Synchro BLiTZ's resident suspension tuner, though not an official member of the team, she is highly affiliated with them due to her work on the team's cars and her relation to team leader Toshiya, who is her elder cousin. She is a student taking up a degree in Psychology in a university within Tokyo, originally from Saitama, she moved to Tokyo for her degree and is under the care of her cousin. She is said to be quite a skilled driver on the mountain passes but her fear of crashing into traffic at high-speed often gets the better of her, causing her to drive slowly.
Toshiya Takahashi Gender: Male Age: 22 Car/s: Toyota Supra RZ [JZA80], Honda S2000 [AP1] Description: Hana's cousin and leader of Team Synchro BLiTZ and by all means a charismatic figure. Working as a faculty in a nearby college, he also runs his own tuning garage and has worked on all the cars of his team. An engine tuning expert, he can bring out a high level of performance from the engines that he tunes, but making sure it is still within the safe operating conditions. A highly skilled driver as well, he is considered to be the best in the Inner Circular Loop, taking his 650HP Toyota Supra around Route C1 in a manner that is nearly impossible to replicate.
CHAPTER LIST (click on chapter title to see more)
PRELUDE ~ The Fateful Meet
SPOILER
***2300 Hours, Ginza PA, Shuto Expressway. A black Toyota Supra is parked at the far end of the parking area, near the small shed and the numerous food and drink dispensers that truck drivers and even daily long-distance commuters frequent in their road trip. The car itself has attracted the eyes of other tuned car drivers present in the area, with its exceptionally dark paint, complimenting black TE37SL wheels and the wide bodykit reminiscent of a GT machine, something that's far too unusual for a road-going Supra. Some people stood around the car, taking pictures of the car with their cellphone cameras, while some tried to search for its owner, who was nowhere to be seen.
Few minutes later, a purple-silver Mazda FD RX7 drives into the parking lot, its high-pitched turbo rotary engine quickly stealing the spotlight from the black Supra. The car's appearance was nearly the opposite of the Supra, in that the car didn't actually look flashy at all. The car itself looked nearly stock, save for the vented carbon fiber bonnet, the curved GT-wing, silver Enkei JS+M wheels and the crystal blue stripe that ran the sides of the car from the tail diagonally down to the bottom of the front wheel. Finding its place in a spot two rows in front of the Supra, the FD revved its engine a few times as it parked before the pop-up lights slid down as the engine shut down.
When the driver-side door of the FD opened, it revealed a tall male with long, brown hair that ended just below his neck, who appeared to be in his early twenties. Clad in an open black jacket with a green shirt underneath, dark blue jeans and white sneakers, the man just walked away from his car to one of the softdrink vendos in the shed. He was approached by another man as he took his Cola can from the vendo.
“You're pretty early tonight.” said the driver of the FD without looking away from his cola
“Well, it's quite hard to be late.” replied the other man, “Especially for tonight” he added. This man was as tall and looked to be the same age as the FD driver, though he had short, black hair. He wore a purple polo-shirt, dark blue jeans and black sneakers. “It's a good thing you arrived though, it was pretty uncomfortable with all these guys gathering round my car.” he said with a laugh at the end.
The FD driver looked at him with a questioning glance before shifting his gaze to the black Supra that was still crowded by the enthusiasts. “Heh, what did I tell you? Your car looks too weird for the street, thing look's like a time attack machine for crying out loud!” he jokingly said.
“Function over form, man, and besides, you know those things actually make the car handle better.” replied the Supra driver.
“Still, you could have gone with a more casual looking bodyk--oh look, he's here.” the FD driver's words were cut off by the powerful sound of another car entering the PA.
The Supra driver looked at the direction of the entrance and smiled. “Finally.” he said as they walked towards the car driving into the parking area.
The latest addition to the attention-grabbing cars was a metallic white S30 Fairlady Z. Like the FD, this S30 was plain-looking, wide wheel-arches and a silver VOLK CE28N were the only parts sticking out from the otherwise stock-looking Z. Navigating through the enthusiastic crowd that now grew bigger, it eventually found its spot in the row between the Supra and the FD. When the driver got out of the car, the drivers of the other two cars were standing nearby.
“As always, you're the last to show up.” said the FD driver.
“What can I do? You both know I get off work at 10pm.” replied the Z driver. The man also looked the same age as the earlier two, but was shorter in height than them. He had unkempt brown hair, and was wearing a black, long-sleeved turtleneck shirt with matching black pants and black leather shoes.
“I thought you'd be still tipsy from work. Catch!” the Supra driver gently tossed a can of iced coffee over to the Z driver, who caught it with his right hand.
“Thanks.” he muttered as he went to open the can and take a drink out of the caffeinated beverage. “Mocha, you do know my favorite.” he said after taking his first gulp, quickly finishing the entire can on the next gulp and tossing it towards the nearby trash bin. He looked at the other two drivers and nodded “Let's go.” he said before opening the door to his S30 and getting in.
The other two drivers also nodded and went to walk towards their cars. Soon, the sound of all three cars echoed around the parking area, with the enthusiastic crowd recording videos and taking pictures as the cars made their way out of the parking area in a line. Once they were back out in the highway, the high-pitched echoes of their engines hitting the rev limit could still be heard for about half a minute.
Even after they had left, the people in the parking area were still talking about them.
“Hey, I think I've seen those three before, but I can't remember where...”
“I'm not sure, but I think those three are the famed Shutokou Emperors.”
“You don't mean the Black Scorpion, the Winged Mist and the Shadow Devil, do you?”
“Could be, they say those three rule the roads of Shuto, but seeing them all together...what could that mean?”
“The Winged Mist of Yokohane, the Shadow Devil of C1, and the Black Scorpion of Wangan...are they battling it out tonight to see who's the fastest?”
“I don't know, but one thing is sure, their battle will be legendary.”
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Here's Chapter 1. Enjoy! CHAPTER 1 ~ Welcome to Shutokou
SPOILER
CHAPTER 1: WELCOME TO SHUTOKOU Two years later... 2200 Hours, Ginza PA, Shuto Expressway.
“What was I thinking...I completely forgot that traffic around Shuto clears up at around 11pm and not 10pm, more painfully obvious when you're going around C1...always sucks to be a new guy in town.”
These words rang in Takeshi Kajimoto's mind as he stood beside his light blue FD3S RX-7. He had previously gone around C1 and was frustrated when traffic was still quite heavy, leaving him no room to go fast. Wanting to get away from the boring traffic, he went off at the nearest parking area which was Ginza. “I wonder if I'm gonna be able to race at all with all this traffic.” he said to himself.
He looked at the driver side window of his car and could make out a blurry reflection of himself. Takeshi was an 18 year-old boy with black short straight hair, he was wearing a closed, white rider jacket with solid blue stripes bordering the edges, gray jeans and white sneakers. Setting his eyes parallel the roof line of the car, he can't help but remember how quite short he is for his age.
He walked to the front of his car and opened the FRP bonnet, observing his 13B Twin Rotary engine that was equipped with a twin-turbo setup. The car had a power output of just 450HP with only 45kgm torque, complimenting the modest power is the Mazdaspeed coilover suspension kit and a Brembo high-performance brake kit installed in the car. Taking a step back from the bonnet, Takeshi shifted his eyes towards the exterior of his FD. The Ings+1 N-Spec bodykit along with a Mazdaspeed rear wing and a set of white Advan RGII wheels complete the car's modest, daily-driven look.
Takeshi closed the hood of his FD and sat at the edge of it, he looked up at the highway and saw that the traffic is slowly lessening. “Wow, I guess I could go soon. Though I feel like I can use a drink right now.” he continued glancing around until he set his eyes upon the shed with several vendos lined up. He made his way there and got a cola can from one of the drink vendos. As he was making his way back to his car, he heard what sounded like engine noises coming down to the parking area.
When he looked, he spotted a silver R32 Nissan Skyline GTR and a light blue Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution V driving down the parking area. He noticed that both cars looked completely stock, save for the bronze Volk TE37 wheels that both cars have, he also noticed the windshield sticker on both cars that said “Synchro BLiTZ”.
As he continued to look on, the two cars found their parking spaces beside each other, directly in front of his FD. The drivers of both cars soon got out of their cars “Hey, do you think she'll arrive anytime soon?” the Evo driver asked the R32 driver.
The Evo driver looked to be the same age or at least a year older, yet taller than Takeshi, he had short brown wavy hair and was wearing a black t-shirt, black jeans and white sneakers. The R32 driver on the other hand, looked to be younger and a bit shorter than Takeshi, he had medium black straight hair and was wearing an orange t-shirt, gray jeans and blue sneakers.
“Just relax, she might just be stuck in traffic, you've seen how unbearable traffic was along Shibaura.” replied the R32 driver. He then saw Takeshi's FD and started to observe it “Hey, Ryu, I don't I've seen this FD before, have you?” he asked.
“Nope, it's the first I've seen of it too, I wonder who owns this one.” replied Ryu, at that moment, Takeshi slowly made his way to the pair.
I better get to know some people if I plan to stay and know this place he thought as he approached the two drivers looking at his car. “Hi there, are you two waiting for someone?” he asked politely.
“Oh, yes, we're actually waiting for a friend.” replied Ryu, who switched glances between Takeshi and the FD “Is this your car?” he asked
“Yeah, it is. Though it's only my third time going around Shutokou, so I don't think it's fast enough for here.” said Takeshi, he quickly held out his hand to Ryu “My name is Takeshi Kajimoto, nice to meet you.” he said
Ryu quickly accepted the handshake “Ryu Asakura, nice to meet you too.” he then tilted his head towards the R32 driver who was smiling at them “This is my friend, Shinichi Sawaki.”
Shinichi walked towards Takeshi and offered him a handshake as well, which the latter graciously accepted “Pleasure to meet you, Kajimoto-san.” said Shinichi.
“Likewise, Sawaki-san.” replied Takeshi. He then turned his attention to the windshield stickers that caught his eye earlier “Do you two happen to be in a team? I saw your stickers earlier and I can't help but wonder.” he asked
“Yep, we're both part of Synchro BLiTZ, a team that frequents the Inner Circular Loop and sometimes, the Wangan.” replied Ryu.
“We're not that big of a team though, since we only started about three months ago, and Ryu-senpai here's one of the faster members.” added Shinichi, hinting a bit of mischief at the last bit.
“I may be one of the first members, but between the two of us, you're definitely the faster one, Shinichi.” said Ryu like it was a simple fact. “Anyway, you mentioned it was just your third time around Shutokou, Kajimoto-san?” he asked
“I actually just moved here from Osaka last week, and I haven't had the time to go around at night.” replied Takeshi
“If that's the case, would you like to run with us tonight?” asked Shinichi
“Sure, only if it's okay with your other friend though.” Takeshi was actually surprised that the people he literally just met are now asking him to drive with them. Never knew the people here in Tokyo are that friendly he thought.
“Don't worry about it, I'm sure she'll be more than happy with it.” replied Ryu. A moment later, engine sounds echoed across the parking area, and when Shinichi and Ryu looked at the entrance, both of them smiled “Speak of the devil, here she is.” said Shinichi.
She? I'm pretty sure I heard the word 'she' right thought Takeshi. The idea of meeting a female road racer actually appealed to him for one, and as he looked at the wine red Mazda MX-5 running down the parking area and carefully parking beside Ryu's Evo, he noticed that the MX-5 was unlike the two cars that came before it. It was equipped with a Chargespeed body kit, a set of silver Enkei RS+M wheels, aerodynamic side mirrors and a small rear fin-type spoiler, and that it also had the same windshield sticker as the Evo 5 and the R32.
When the driver got out of the MX-5, Takeshi was speechless. The driver was indeed a woman, she was a bit shorter than Shinichi yet looked to be the same age as them. She had long strawberry blonde hair that reached down to her chest and was wearing a black, short-sleeved jacket over a white tank, light blue jeans that ended just below the knee and brown sandals.
Wow, she's really pretty thought Takeshi Who would've thought I'd meet a road racer this good-looking?
“Sorry I'm late, Ryu-senpai. Traffic was really bad.” she slightly bowed her head as she addressed Ryu.
“Don't worry, we've seen how bad it was, I actually thought you wouldn't make it.” replied Ryu “Still, glad to have you around, and I got someone I want you to meet.” Ryu then glanced over towards Takeshi, then back. “Kajimoto-san, this is Lia Kusunoki, the only damsel we have in our team.” he said, jokingly adding the last bit.
“Pleasure to meet you, Kajimoto-san.” Lia bowed as she acknowledged Takeshi.
“S..same here, Kusunoki-san.” Takeshi returned the gesture, though he still couldn't take his mind off from how attractive he found her to be.
“Kajimoto-san here has just moved to Tokyo from Osaka recently, and since we met him here tonight, we thought to show him around Shutokou.” said Ryu
“Oh, I see.” replied Lia quite gleefully before turning towards Takeshi “I'm looking forward to the drive tonight, Kajimoto-san.” she smiled at him, which made him blush a bit, quite unnoticeable because of the dim lighting over the parking area.
“Well then, shall we go?” asked Shinichi who was already by the driver-side door of his R32.
“Always the excitable one, aren't you, Shinichi.” said Ryu, jokingly shaking his head, but stopped seconds later as if he remembered something. “That reminds me, do you have a hands-free device, Kajimoto-san?” he asked
“You mean like a bluetooth headset for my phone? Yeah, I do.” replied Takeshi, not sure where the question was leading.
“Great, can I have your number? I'm gonna set a 4-way call with all of us, we always do it when we run together.” replied Ryu. As soon as he had saved Takeshi's number on his smartphone, he put it back on his pocket. “I'll start it before we set off, just to make sure we're all connected.” he said before walking to his car and getting in.
“Alright, let's run the night!” exclaimed Shinichi as he quickly got inside his R32.
“Well then, Kajimoto-san, shall we?” said Lia before walking back to her car.
“New friends, huh? Welcome to Shutokou, Takeshi.” he said to himself before getting inside his FD. Once inside his FD, he took his bluetooth earpiece from the car's glove box and connected it to his phone, and once the phone started ringing, he simply pushed a button on the earpiece to answer. “Takeshi here.”
“Good, you're in.” said the voice of Ryu over the line. A few moments later, Shinichi was in the call, followed by Lia. Once all of them were connected, Ryu gave a short briefing on their route.
“Okay, so it's already 10:45, which means traffic's not that bad now. To be sure, we're changing the route a little, instead of going clockwise from Ginza, we'll go counter-clockwise, that way we can delay passing by Shibaura, where traffic's supposed to be really bad. If by the end of the first loop Shibaura is still impassable, we'll head towards Haneda, going around Minato Mirai down to Daikoku before driving up Wangan, finishing up to Airport Central.” said Ryu
“Is that the whole Shuto Expressway, Asakura-san?” asked Takeshi, who took in every detail of the briefing and was amazed at how vast their route was going to be.
“Not quite the whole, the route would finish up at the end of Wangan but New Belt Line's still beyond it, and umm....we don't really go there.” replied Ryu, who was quite hesitant to tell him the last bit.
“That's because the New Belt Line is ASR territory, and let's just say our team's not on the best terms with them compared to the rest of Tokyo Highway.” added Shinichi, whose excitable tone changed into for a more serious mood.
“So team battles are intense as well in Tokyo? Interesting.” said Takeshi
“Yeah, but enough about that, let's drive on!” said Shinichi, whose mood switched back like a switch to the usual excitement.
“We'll be going fast, so try to keep up, Kajimoto-san.” said Ryu, giving more of a warning than a taunt.
It seems I'll really be put to the test here, alright then! Thought Takeshi “I assure you, you'll have nothing to worry about.” he said “Oh, and please, Takeshi is just fine.”
“Okay, Takeshi-san.” said Lia, her tone momentarily snapping Takeshi out of focus.
The four cars drove off the parking area, leaving the loud echoes of their powerful engines. Exiting Ginza PA, they drove off in a line, with Ryu's Evo leading, followed by Shinichi's R32, Lia's MX-5 and Takeshi's FD.
“I'll turn on the hazard lights, when they go off, we go full out, alright?” Ryu said over the line
Coming in to the first part of Ginza was the tight left and right corners, once the group had cleared it at the slow speeds they were driving, Ryu quickly turned off his hazard lights and blasted off, followed by the rest of the group. They kept in formation going down the straight, and when they got to the uphill slopes, the R32 dived on the inside of the Evo and took the lead, while the MX-5 held its ground against the FD. “Got you there!” exclaimed Shinichi after passing the Evo.
After the fast uphill was an equally fast downhill, the Evo pinned its nose just inches behind the R32, while the MX-5 went to attack in the right lane, followed by the FD. The group found themselves nearing a road divider, where the right lane had a truck obstructing it, forcing the MX-5 to change lanes and stay behind the Evo, while the FD remained there.
“Takeshi-san, get off that lane, the truck's too slow!” Lia cried out when she noticed the FD was still running full throttle on the right lane.
Takeshi was looking intently at the truck's movements and position, and judging that the truck would be past the divider by the time he enters it, he went full throttle. When he was about quarter car lengths behind the truck, he quickly swerved out of the lane, missing the front of Shinichi's R32 by inches as he went ahead.
“Whoa, easy there!” Shinichi was startled by Takeshi's sudden move and for a moment, let off his foot on the gas, leaving room for Ryu's Evo to swerve right and overtake, which the latter took. He had decreased his speed just a little bit too much because Lia's MX-5 was able to overtake as well. “Nice move there!” said Ryu “Don't ever do that again, Takeshi, that was scary!” said an obviously worried Lia before switching her attention to the R32 “Come on Shinichi, you're too slow!” she taunted
Takeshi's FD seemed like it had a comfortable lead, going full throttle all throughout the divider and keeping speed, but at the next uphill slope, which was a lot steeper than the earlier one, Ryu's Evo simply breezed past him. “What? How did...just how much power does that Evo have? Surely not stock.” Takeshi, amazed at how easily he was overtaken, couldn't help asking.
“My car has about 550-600HP, though it only comes from a single big diameter turbo.” replied Ryu "The 4WD layout helps a lot though."
“Senpai's car is actually the second most powerful car in our team.” added Shinichi, who has already recovered from the FD's surprise attack and was now chasing after the MX-5. “My GTR only has about 500HP max on a twin-turbo setup, since I mostly just run C1.” he added
“Mine's probably the weakest in terms of power, the MX-5 only has 380HP powered by a parallel twin.” said Lia, who slowly blocked Shinichi's passing line.
Coming up at the end of the uphill slope was a small jump, where everyone managed to control the landing. It took Takeshi by surprise though, as he never thought that jumps exist in the Tokyo Highway. Seeing Ryu's left signal light go on, Takeshi quickly followed the swerving Evo, and when he saw how the following corner was a tight sweeping left, he quickly stepped on the brakes and did heel-toe movements shifting down from 4th gear to 3rd gear, then to 2nd gear. It proved enough for him to steer in to the inside of the corner and then out following the Evo, but as he was nearing the exit, he saw Lia's MX-5 go past him and Ryu's Evo to take the lead.
“Oww...those high G corners are such a pain.” said Lia over the line.
Well that's definitely one advantage of having a lightweight car, tight corners like that can easily be done faster thought Takeshi. Going full throttle along the next straights and high speed curves, the Evo, the FD eventually pass the underpowered MX-5, while the more powerful R32 sneaks up inside the FD in one of the high-speed corners and takes second position. The group formation was now in shambles as it approached the Kanda Bridge area, where the high-speed banking curves had varying traffic on either lane.
Taking the first high-speed banking curve which was a right at over 220km/h, the grippy 4WD cars easily stretched their lead over the FR cars, that entered the banking curve at only 200km/h. At the second banking curve, which was now a left, Takeshi dared to enter the corner at full throttle because both lanes were clear of traffic. His car went into a powerslide at over 200km/h but he managed to swing the car straight back just before he hit the wall, slowly closing the gap between him and the two 4WD cars ahead.
The next area was a fast tunnel with a mid-speed right coming out, and when both lanes were open near the exit, Takeshi used a low angle, zero counter accel-off drift to get past the GTR and the Evo that were braking for the corner exit, swinging the car straight back just before hitting the wall, Takeshi retook the lead coming out of the tunnel. After a short straight was another tunnel entrance, a mid-speed sweeping left turn, but because there was traffic on the right lane exactly at the tunnel entrance, Takeshi chose to brake and downshift from 4th to 3rd and do a grip turn entering the tunnel.
When he looked up at his rearview mirror he saw Lia's MX-5 behind him. She had used the car's lightweight body again to achieve higher full grip cornering speeds with late braking, passing both heavy 4WD cars at braking point and closing the gap to the FD inside the tunnel. With quite a long straight inside the tunnel, the FD was able to create distance from the MX-5 and the two 4WD cars were able to catch up to the compact car, though unable to pass because of varying traffic in both lanes.
“We'll go left in the next junction, be careful, the corner gets tighter in the middle.” said Shinichi.
Taking note of the warning, Takeshi kept his car left and when he passed the junction, lightened his press on the gas pedal, attacking the corner with an out-in-out approach, but in the middle of the corner, Takeshi saw that he was heading for the wall, and immediately hit the brakes to lose speed and avoid the wall. Damn it! Nearly lost it there! he then let out a relieved sigh.
“How the heck were you supposed to drive through that!?” exclaimed Takeshi “The corner changes it's radius while you're going through it!”
“One of the many traps here in C1, just watch the MX-5 to see how it's done.” replied Shinichi.
With his car slowed down in the right lane, Takeshi saw the MX-5 driving around the corner with a low angle drift, while the 4WD cars simply used throttle control and their mechanical grip to drive past. The FD accelerated out of the right lane after all three cars passed by. A few seconds later, they were faced again with downhill sloped mid-speed left.
“Drift around it, left lane is clear.” said Ryu as he cleared the corner. Takeshi drifted the FD around the corner and was soon back in formation with the other three cars at the exit. A high-speed straight and right corner followed soon and Takeshi got back to third position after Lia dropped back. Following the high-speed section was a wide right, and noticing its similarity with the previous corner, Takeshi drifted around the corner and found himself side by side with Shinichi's R32, who reduced speed when a truck swerved towards his lane, much to his annoyance. “These truck drivers, why do I get the feeling they switch lanes intentionally whenever racers are around...” he said over the line
“Well at least they give you time to react.” replied Lia, giggling as she went past the R32.
"Hey! No fair!" retorted Shinichi as the compact went past his GTR.
A few moments later, the group encountered another wide right but with a smaller turning radius, Takeshi was able to go through the corner without drifting. The tunnel exit followed afterwards, a quick sweeping left that led to the Akasaka straight.
“The Akasaka straight, wanna do it Shinichi?” asked Ryu
“Game on!” replied Shinichi.
Before Takeshi could ask, he saw Ryu's Evo go full throttle along the straight, with Shinichi's R32 blazing past from behind a few seconds later.
“250...260...280...woah!” Takeshi listened to Ryu, who hit the brakes at 280 to clear the fast left that was at the end.
“250...260...270...too fast!” it was Shinichi this time. Takeshi could only make out that they were somehow doing a top speed test of the sort.
“That was the Akasaka straight, where drivers dare to break the 300km/h mark before entering the next corner.” said Lia after the FD and the MX-5 cleared the corner after the straight.
The group continued until they reached the Hamasaki junction, where traffic was slowly building up. Ryu turned on his hazard lights and the group continued in the slow, cruising speed they had when they started. “We'll go right towards Yokohane here.” he said as he switched his hazard lights to right signal lights.
“Yokohane, you mean the fast, narrow straights?” asked Takeshi.
“Right, and there's actually someone waiting for us there.” replied Ryu “We better not keep him waiting.” he added
Hope it wasn't too long. I originally intended to cut the chapter when they left the PA for C1 but decided to just cut it at a later time.
This post has been edited by Antares on Oct 12 2012, 02:49 AM
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I won't be able to update on a regular basis because of college but I'll try my best to release a chapter at least every two weeks.
Anyway, since you asked, here's an update! Enjoy!
CHAPTER 2 ~ The Fifth Wheel
SPOILER
“Right, and there's actually someone waiting for us there.” said Ryu “We better not keep him waiting.” he added
The group made their way down Hamasaki junction heading towards Yokohane. A few kilometers in, Lia noticed a car approaching from behind. Fast.
“Guys, we got a car coming up from behind, it's chasing us.” she said, alerting the others. Without another word, everyone shifted a gear down and went full throttle, attempting to gain enough momentum to catch up with the speeding car once it passes by. Ryu and Shinichi were nearing reaching speeds exceeding 230km/h quickly while Takeshi and Lia lightened their press on the gas pedal as soon as they hit 220km/h.
Few seconds later, the speeding car passed by and overtook the group as if they weren't even there. Looking ahead, Takeshi saw that the car hit the brakes and turned its hazard lights on the moment it went past Ryu's Evo, causing the latter and Shinichi to let off the pursuit.
“I guess he got a bit impatient waiting for us.” said Ryu over the line.
“Hey, isn't that car...” Shinichi trailed off as he somehow recognized the car.
Takeshi put his FD closer to the group to get a better look at the car “It's a Supra.” he said as he recognized the silver JZA80 Supra from its round taillights.
Lia's relieved sigh could be heard after she too had gotten close enough to see the Supra “Phew, it's just Toshiya-san. I thought we were chased by someone.” she said
Toshiya? Must be another one of their members... thought Takeshi. His train of thought was then interrupted by Ryu.
“Hazard lights? What does he want to do?” asked Ryu.
“Maybe he wants to go to a rest stop or something.” replied Shinichi.
“Perhaps, let's just go follow him, he waited for us, after all.” said Ryu, turning on his own hazard lights before the others followed suit.
Takeshi took the moment to ask who the person in the Supra was. “About that Supra, you guys know the driver of that one?” he asked.
“Yeah, his name is Toshiya Takahashi, the team leader of Synchro BLiTZ.” replied Lia “And one of the fastest drivers around C1.” she added.
Woah, so this guy's actually the leader...no wonder he's got a fast car. thought Takeshi “Wow. I guess he's really good, then?” he asked Wouldn't hurt to know more about people
“Yes, that and he practically tuned all of our cars.” replied Shinichi. “That guy can do nearly everything, I tell ya, would really be great for you to meet him, Takeshi-san.” he added.
That must mean something, if they are enthusiastic about me meeting their leader. Still, why do I get this feeling? That guy...he's got some kind of aura. Even though I only felt it in the split-second when he drove past us, I'm still certain about it. Takeshi's thoughts ran as he continued to ponder upon the silver Toyota Supra leading the group.
Once they had parked their cars beside one another in the Haneda PA, they all got out to grab something to drink in the nearby vendos, and that's where Takeshi came face-to-face with the Synchro BLiTZ leader. He was slightly taller than Ryu, looked to be at least three years older than the rest of the group, had long black hair that ended just below his neck, wore rectangular-framed glasses, black polo shirt with thin red stripes that ran down from his left shoulder to the bottom end of the shirt, dark gray pants and black and white sneakers. As Takeshi looked intently at him, he simply smiled.
Ryu walked over to the two of them and put a hand on their shoulders “Toshiya-senpai, this is Takeshi Kajimoto, we met him earlier at Ginza.” Ryu then switched his gaze towards Takeshi “Takeshi-san, this is Toshiya Takahashi, the leader of Synchro BLiTZ.” he said
Toshiya held his hand out towards Takeshi “Nice to meet you, Takeshi-kun.” he said. The latter then accepted the handshake “Likewise, Takahashi-san.”
Toshiya gently let go of the handshake and smiled at Takeshi again “Please, Toshiya will do.” he said. Though he didn't show it, Takeshi was quite stunned during the handshake. There it is again, that sensation...it's become clearer. This guy, I can feel...this guy's strong.
“If I may ask though, Takeshi-kun, what were you doing with my team?” he asked “Don't misunderstand though, I'm not holding it against you or anything, just curious, is all.” he added as soon as he finished his first statement.
“Well, I was actually just parked at Ginza waiting for the traffic to clear around C1 when Ryu-san and Shinichi-san arrived.” began Takeshi “I got to talk to them and they asked me to go on a drive with them.”
“He's actually new in town, came all the way from Osaka last week.” said Ryu
Toshiya suddenly had a curious look on Takeshi “Oh, so you just moved in? Why, though, if I may ask?”
What's with him? Am I being interrogated or something? Thought Takeshi at the leader's series of questions. “I...want to become a pro racer, that's why I came here, to gain become better on the famed Tokyo Highway.” he replied
Toshiya took a sip from the can of iced coffee he was holding and smiled. “You came here to fulfill your dreams? Interesting.” he muttered, but loud enough for Takeshi to hear “You look quite young too, how old are you, by the way?” he asked
“18, though I don't see how that has something to do with anything, Toshiya-san.” retorted Takeshi, appalled at the line of questioning taken.
“No joking? You're just as old as Lia and I then!” exclaimed Shinichi upon hearing Takeshi's age. Takeshi then threw them a questioning look that said Oh really? pretty well
“Yeah, it's true.” said Lia, easily reading Takeshi's expression “Ryu-senpai here's just a year older than us at 19.” she added, playfully bobbing her head towards their senior who had just finished his can of cola.
“Fine, even if it's just a year I'm still the older guy.” retorted Ryu, who was quite amused at how the younger guys played at his age.
“Believe me, Takeshi-kun, I know a lot of people who regretted started chasing after their dreams when they were already past your age.” said Toshiya “You have all the time in the world to make that dream come true, and to be honest, I think you made the right decision.” he added
“Anyway, senpai, why'd you ask me to get everyone together tonight?” interrupted Ryu.
“Oh that, it's actually something about the team, and perfect timing to have Takeshi-kun with us here.” began Toshiya as everyone had gathered round him to listen “You see, the three members we had that were involved in the crash two weeks ago called me up earlier, telling me that they wanted to quit the team. I let them go without any arguments since it's they went they way to call me, that and they were already involved in an accident beforehand.” he said.
“But it wasn't anyone's fault but theirs that they crashed...it's not as if it would happen if they weren't so careless.” said Shinichi, dismay evident in his tone. “The nerve...” he muttered under his breath.
“Exactly the point, I wouldn't want the team's name to get soiled just because some of our drivers were actually pretty careless on the road.” said Toshiya “Back to the point, we are now down to four members because of it, and what I would have asked you to do was help me in finding new members to recruit, but since you brought Takeshi-kun here with you...” he trailed off before looking at Takeshi with a serious expression
“I'd like to offer you a spot in my team, Takeshi-kun. You don't have to answer me now, but at least, I'd like you to consider.” he said.
“Why me?” asked a surprised Takeshi “I'm just someone you guys met, and I don't even know my way around Shutokou! Are you guys serious about asking me to join your team? Someone you've driven with for less than an hour?” he added.
“What if I say I can feel your talent just by looking at you and your car, Takeshi-kun?” began Toshiya “I know you're a skilled driver, my teammates would have left you behind if you weren't. They know a good driver when they see one. I can tell you're still quite new to racing, and that you still have a lot of room to improve. I think being in a team can help you become faster.”
Takeshi took a moment to think of the sudden offer that was given to him. “I appreciate your offer, but...until I have enough reason to believe that you could help me become better, then I'm afraid I won't be able to accept it.” he said. Everyone else except Toshiya looked down in disappointment. “But...if you would gladly race with me tonight, then maybe...” he trailed off “Maybe I'd be able to find a reason to consider.”
Toshiya had an amused look on his face “Isn't that a bit bold, personally asking someone you barely know to a race?” he asked in mock irritation because in truth, he actually liked how Takeshi asked him to race.
“I would just like to confirm something before accepting your offer, Toshiya-san.” said Takeshi before slowly bowing his head to Toshiya, earning curious stares from everyone else. “Please let me drive with you!” he said, his intentions clear in his tone.
It took a few moments before Toshiya spoke “Very well, then let me ask you to go at me with everything you got, Takeshi-kun.” he said before walking from the vendos and to his car. Takeshi's eyes followed him as he neared his car. Toshiya didn't immediately get into his car, instead, he stood in front his car and put a hand on the bonnet, looking at it with an unreadable expression.
Takeshi then slowly made his way to his FD, while the members of Synchro BLiTZ were left speechless by his bold statements. They all just stood and watched as Toshiya and Takeshi stood by their cars. Takeshi observed the leader's car as he was walking to his. The Supra had a RIDOX aero kit installed, a set of white Volk TE37 wheels, aerodynamic side mirrors, Brembo brakes with cross-drilled discs and a straight GT-wing made from carbon fiber. The car was different from the others as it also had the team sticker in the rear side windows apart from the windshield. When the engine started, Takeshi instantly recognized the sound of the 2JZ-GTE engine warming up.
Not wasting another moment, Takeshi got into his FD and started up the engine, letting the high-pitched sound of his 13B rotary blend in with the strong sound Supra's straight-6. He then went on to look at the idle rev at his tachometer, then to the several gauges lined up along the center of his dashboard. Idle is stable, engine temperature rising normally, water and oil temperature, both normal, as for boost... he gradually revved the engine up to 6000rpm boost pressure normal, everything's in running condition.
Ryu, Lia and Shinichi then started to approach the two cars, Ryu and Shinichi went towards Toshiya's Supra while Lia walked to the FD. Takeshi, who had just finished strapping himself with the 3-point harness in his seat, pushed the power window button down when he saw Lia getting nearer. “I hope I'm not offending you guys or anything.” he said apologetically when Lia stopped by his door.
She simply chuckled in response “What do you mean? You wanted a good reason to join the team, right? I think you couldn't find a better reason than this, Takeshi-san.” she said, her expression then turned from optimistic to worried. “Just be careful out there, Takeshi-san, it's pretty scary to see you take risks like the one you did back in C1.” she said.
“Sorry about that.” came Takeshi's soft reply “Thanks for looking out for me though, I just want to do my best against Toshiya-san.” he said as he stared at the silver Supra to his right.
“You never really told us why you wanted to race the leader, though.” inquired Lia, giving Takeshi an equally inquisitive look “You could have raced against any one of the other guys but you went straight to Toshiya-senpai."
“Oh.” Takeshi was caught off guard by Lia's question “Well, I'm not even sure, but the moment he drove past us earlier, I felt some kind of shock.” he began “Then I felt the same shock when he shook my hand...I don't know, but I can feel that he's very skilled from just those moments, maybe that's why I just wanted to race with him so badly. To see for myself just how fast this guy is.”
Lia was quite surprised at his response “I may have pegged you wrong, Takeshi-san.” she said, earning a curious look from him “I thought you were just a shy guy who happened to be a naturally good driver. Right now though, I realized you are truly serious about becoming a pro.”
“Thanks, Lia-san.” replied Takeshi, smiling as he looked at her. He didn't realize that he was slightly ogling her.
Lia noticed this and took a small step back, flashing a mischievous smile at Takeshi “Liking what you see, eh?” she playfully asked, snapping him out of his trance, he simply looked away from her, his face flushing in embarrassment. She laughed before she went closer to his car again. “Good luck, Takeshi-kun.”
“Thanks, Lia-chan.” replied Takeshi, Lia then walked back to her MX-5 and got inside, starting up the engine a few seconds later. Dropping the honorifics...what next, Takeshi? he told himself
Shinichi and Ryu went to Takeshi's FD moments later. “I can't believe your guts, challenging Toshiya-senpai out of the blue like that.” came Shinichi, though his tone was more of amazement rather than disappointment. “I'm sure you'll find out once you start, but Toshiya-senpai's damn fast, way faster than Shinichi and I.” followed Ryu, who seemed to think that the race was a lost cause.
"Don't worry, I'm not aiming to win tonight...I just want to see how fast he really is" said Takesh before exchanging high fives with both Ryu and Shinichi. The two ten made their way back to their cars and started their engines, waiting for Toshiya and Takeshi to lead the way out of Haneda PA.
Toshiya looked to his left and observed Takeshi's FD first, muttering things he noticed about the car. “By the sound of that engine...I'm gonna guess it's a 13B with a sequential twin turbo, but I would have to see for myself just how much power the car has, though I don't think it has more than 550HP, probably not even close. Plus that aero kit and that wing, this car isn't one for top speed runs but more like a balanced track-going machine, a great match for C1. For a boy who wants to become a pro driver by driving on the urban Nurburgring, I guess the car's just right for him.” Toshiya ran his hand on one of the lit monitors on his center console, where the radio used to be and where the electronic boost controller was now placed. Pressing a few buttons, he came up with something on the small screen “0.8bar, approximately 480HP...I think that should do it.”
Toshiya then turned his attention to the FD driver. “Takeshi-kun, we're gonna race around C1, once we get past Hamasaki junction, we go all out, is that alright for you?” he asked.
“But we took Hamasaki junction to get away from C1 because of traffic. Wouldn't it be quite bothersome to go back there?” replied Takeshi, remembering how traffic was starting to build up earlier.
“It's already 11:30, I'm sure police and highway patrol have cleared them all up.” said Toshiya, quite insistent on driving around C1. “Plus, you've just driven around it, so you won't have to adjust to it as much as anywhere else.” he added.
He actually has a point, I'm pretty handicapped when it comes to Shutokou “Alright, Toshiya-san.” he paused for a moment, making sure everything in his car was normal before they set off “Shall we go?”. Toshiya simply nodded before he slide his power windows up.
The Supra gently accelerated out of its parking space first, followed by the FD, the Evo, the R32 and the MX-5. The group had their hazard lights on to let other drivers know they were traveling in a convoy. Slowly treading down Yokohane they eventually made it to Hamasaki junction, and as Toshiya predicted, traffic was nearly non-existent, only a few trucks and commuters remained on the road as it was nearing midnight.
The hazard lights on the Supra went off as soon as they hit clear road, and started going full throttle. The FD followed soon, chasing after the Supra. What was surprising was that even after attacking several corners, the gap wasn't widening as Takeshi had expected. What's this? I thought this car was a lot more powerful than my FD, but why's the gap not increasing? As they reached a long, clear straightaway, he turned his attention to the engine sounds of the Supra. He's shifting at the proper points, and the rev's are rising as fast as it would at full throttle, he's not holding back on power, but why isn't he getting away from me?
They soon arrive at the sudden uphill-downhill slopes leading up to the Ginza exit, and when Takeshi saw the open inside of the Supra coming up the uphill, he immediately dived in, forcing Toshiya to give way and let Takeshi pass. Once both cars have cleared the hill, they arrive at a road divider, the FD took the left lane coming out the hill while the Supra took the right. The Supra lined itself a few feet behind the FD coming in to the tight S curve that came after a short straight. Takeshi braked about 5 light posts before the corner, shifting down from 4th gear to 3rd, its speed dropping from 200km/h along the short straight down to about 120km/h, steering the car left then right, he easily cleared the corner coming out to the left lane. When he looked at his rearview mirror though, the Supra had disappeared.
Where did he go? He was up my rear until the S curve. Before he could even look at his right side mirror, the Supra suddenly went past, it's corner exit speed being much faster than the FD. How in the world? That car's about 300kg heavier than my FD, how was it able to attack the corner faster? The Supra again kept its earlier pace, its distance from the FD not extending. Takeshi became increasingly confused as to how much power the Supra had, and how it was able to corner faster despite being a lot heavier.
The two entered the steep slopes section after the divider, and coming in to the tight left, Takeshi saw the Supra's brake lights lit up for less than a second before turning in, its entry speed way above that of Lia's MX-5 earlier in the night. The car did not drift, it went in full grip from the outside, it was a high-level application of the out-in-out racing line theory, something that even most professionals struggle to do at full speed. When his FD neared the corner, he simply braked for a brief moment and then turned in full throttle, but his rear gave away and sent the car into a power drift, using deft movements of his right foot on the gas and minute steering corrections, Takeshi was able to clear the corner safely. Damn, how does he do that? Aren't lighter cars supposed to corner better? Or is it just me that's lacking? Then it hit him Then again, maybe it is just me. Toshiya-san is trying to tell me something, but I can't quite understand it yet. Feeling that he would need to race harder for him to understand, Takeshi goes full-throttle and chases down the Supra in the high-speed banked curves of Kanda Bridge.
In the first banked curve, both the Supra and the FD cleared it at about 220km/h, sticking to the right lane because a truck was driving on the left. On the second bank, Takeshi used careful throttle control to clear the corner without drifting, and because his exit speed was slightly faster than the Supra's he was also able to close the gap to about 5m, putting the FD's front bumper directly behind the Supra. Using the slipstream of the car in front, he was eventually able to overtake the Supra coming into the tunnel section by diving on the inside.
The exit of the tunnel was the mid-speed sweeping right where he used a high-speed, low angle drift to clear earlier. He decides to do it again and drifts the car around the corner exiting the tunnel at 180km/h. The Supra goes for a milder out-in-out approach and exits the corner at over 220km/h, passing the FD on the straightaway leading up to the entrance of the next tunnel.
The next tunnel entrance was a sweeping left that was now clear of traffic, and the Supra positioned itself in the inside lane coming in at about 250km/h and attacked with full grip cornering, its exit speed at about 235km/h. Takeshi was startled at the speed the Supra disappeared from view as it entered the corner, and attempted to do the same. Positioning his car in the inside lane, he focused his attention to his throttle control and as he turned in at 240km/h, started to gently ease off the throttle, when he cleared the corner though, his speed was now just above 200km/h. The gap had increased to about 30m. I don't understand, how am I slower at the corners. It feels like his car is running on dry soil while mine is slipping on ice. Before he could think about the next corner though, he saw the Supra making its way into the difficult left corner that suddenly gets tighter in the middle. He saw the Supra braking before the corner and attacking with a low angle drift. Remembering how Lia's MX-5 took the corner, he too attacked the corner with a low angle drift all throughout until the exit. He was shocked though, as the Supra had already disappeared from view upon exit. Panicked, he took the following left corner at full throttle, luckily missing the wall upon exit. Shit, I'm losing him, I need to catch up!
He took the high-speed section at full throttle and once he was faced with the tunnel exit, a sweeping right, he quickly steered the car in at full speed, the rear wheels spinning out of grip because of the high-Gs brought by the fast cornering speed and getting the car into a slight drift which he quickly recovered from. Clearing the corner at about 240km/h he was into the Akasaka straight, where he saw the Supra already going in to the left following the long straightaway. It's no use, I can't catch somebody I can't outdo in the corners. Takeshi then slowly eased off the gas, his FD slowing down to below 200km/h. Ryu's Evo suddenly went in front of the FD and turned on the hazard lights. Toshiya-san's driving...it's something else, controlling the heavy Supra as if it was a lightweight cornering machine. At first I thought I could get him, but he was just holding back, then he went all out and left me behind. I need to become better, I want to race him again. His phone suddenly rang and he quickly reached to the passenger seat for his bluetooth earpiece, once he placed it on his left ear he pressed a button to answer.
"Takeshi here"
“I heard you slowed down Takeshi-kun, are you okay?” came in Toshiya's voice
“Toshiya-san? Yeah, I'm fine.” he replied “I've made up my mind though...” he paused for a moment, reflection on the decision he would soon make I want to be faster...and I know he can help me. I've got nothing to lose here. “I accept the offer, Toshiya-san, I want to join your team.”
“Welcome to Synchro BLiTZ, Takeshi Kajimoto.” came Toshiya's reply a few seconds later. "I'm glad to have you on the team."
This post has been edited by Antares on Oct 12 2012, 02:49 AM
Group: Advanced Members
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Another update, and it's quite a long one since I don't think I would be able to update anytime soon. Enjoy!
CHAPTER 3 ~ Home Base
SPOILER
The next day, Takeshi received a call from Shinichi, telling him about the garage where members of Synchro BLiTZ gather every afternoon. Seeing as he was now a member, Shinichi asked him to come by if he had time. At about 3pm, Takeshi was driving along the streets of Tokyo, heading for the said garage. He was told that the garage was located two blocks south from the Edo Bridge Exit along C1.
Stopping off in front of a large tuning garage with a sign that said Speed Works Toshi “This must be it.” he then proceeded to park the FD in the garage's parking lot, beside a blue Honda S2000. When he got out of his car, he saw Toshiya and a woman walking towards him. “Glad to see you've found the place, Takeshi-kun.” said Toshiya, who was surprisingly without his glasses and was clad in a gray mechanic's tracksuit.
Takeshi bowed his head slightly in respect “It wasn't actually that hard to find, Toshiya-san, Shinichi-san did give me accurate directions as to where the place was.” he said. He then turned his eyes to the woman next to Toshiya. She was visibly younger than Toshiya, as Takeshi guessed she was their age, she had short brown hair that ended up just behind her neck with bangs that covered her forehead, she was wearing a brown t-shirt, blue knee-length jeans and black sandals.
Noticing Takeshi's eyes were directed at the person next to him, Toshiya opted for some introductions “Takeshi-kun, let me introduce you to my cousin, Hana.” he said as he pointed towards her with an open palm. Hana smiled and bowed her head towards Takeshi “Nice to meet you, Takeshi-san, Toshi-niichan has told me you're a skilled driver with a good car to match.” she said, then switching her gaze towards his parked FD. “By the looks of it, your car is tuned for overall balance rather than outright speed. Also, by looking at the slight toe out and negative camber settings seen from the wheels, I'm guessing cornering response is pretty sharp, though the current suspension balance is towards oversteer.”
Takeshi's eyes widened at Hana's analysis, an amazed expression reflected on his face She's able to analyze my car's suspension setting and formulate a simulation by just a single look!? More than anything, he was surprised at how accurate her analysis actually was. Toshiya saw this amazed look and smiled “Hana here is the chassis and suspension expert of the garage, she's also the one who tuned the suspension for the team's cars.” he said.
“I see.” replied Takeshi. Only more than a week in his stay in Tokyo, he's already encountered skilled drivers and now he's met an equally skilled tuner. This is really interesting, more amazing people to meet
“I don't think I still need to retune the FD's suspension, Toshi-niichan.” said Hana as she looked at Toshiya.
“I think that's up for Takeshi-kun to decide, Hana-chan.” replied Toshiya before looking back to Takeshi “Since Hana-chan's brought it up, I was gonna ask if you would let us take a look at your car, Takeshi-kun. Formulate some tuning suggestions, and it would be up to you to choose which tuning option to go for, we could even leave the car as it is if you want. What do you say?” he asked.
No reason to decline eh, and maybe I could get something good out of this too. “No problem, I'd be glad to have you check my FD, Toshiya-san, Hana-san.” replied Takeshi.
“Good, just bring the car inside the lift so we can start right away.” said Hana, who then hurried back to one of the empty floor jacks inside the garage and waved at Takeshi when she got there. Takeshi got back into his car and gently guided the car to the floor jacks Hana was pointing at. When he got out and stepped out of the platform and onto the side, Hana pressed a button on the jack controls beside her which slowly raised the FD off the ground until it stopped when the car was about 8 feet off the ground.
Hana walked under the raised car and started switching glances between the four tires, putting her hand on the coilovers on each tire as she went, mumbling things about what she noticed. When she finished, she turned to Takeshi with an interested gaze. “Did you tune the suspension yourself, Takeshi-san?” she asked.
Unsure of where Hana was leading the question, Takeshi answered “Yeah, I did it myself, is there something wrong?”
Hana smiled before looking back at the underbody of the FD “Surprisingly none! The suspension setting was actually done nicely.” she said gleefully “Seeing the toe and camber settings earlier, I figured that the car still had oversteer tendencies, but seeing the suspension settings itself explains a lot. This setting still has a lot for refinement, but the handling of this car's already at a high level with this. I think with the setup I have in my mind right now, the oversteer angle can be reduced by at least 30 degrees, and the car's high-speed cornering abilities can be increased, though that comes with a grip feel that's subtly similar to understeer.” she then gave him an amused look “Of course, I can only work with the settings if you'd let me. ”
“No problem! I'd be happy to let a specialist like you improve on the settings.” an amazed Takeshi said. He looked around the shop and saw one of the other floor jacks lifted, with a pink Nissan 300ZX on it. Wondering how he didn't spot it earlier, he noticed that the car was behind one of the closed garage gates. “That Z32 looks nice, who owns that?” he asked
Hana pushed a button on the jack controls which slowly brought the FD down and when she heard Takeshi's question, her eyes trailed to the same Z. “That would be my car, Takeshi-san.” she walked over to the jack controls of the Z32 and pressed a button the slowly brought it down as well.
Takeshi got a better look at the car when it came down, the car had a stock body, though the lightly tinted windows revealed a pink-colored roll cage inside. The car went with a set of silver Volk CE28N wheels and Brembo brakes similar to the ones used in his FD. He also noticed the tuning shop's sticker on the door.
“I've been in a bit of a pinch with this car lately and I still haven't figured out what to do about it.” said Hana, who looked to be a bit disappointed talking about her car.
“What do you mean, Hana-san?” asked Takeshi.
“Well the suspension setting of the car has been done right, but lately the performance just isn't up to par.” replied Hana, who proceeded to open the bonnet, revealing a VG30DETT engine. “The engine is a VG30 with modified low-compression pistons and computer-controlled boost up with the stock twin turbo, the power's rating in at about 380HP when the tuning was new, but recently, it went down to just 320HP.” she said. “Toshi-niichan took a look at the engine but found nothing wrong with the internals.”
Takeshi pondered on the info for a moment Power down...strange, that shouldn't really happen with a computer-controlled boost up turbo unless the CPU settings didn't match...wait, maybe the CPU settings really don't match. “Say, Hana-san, when the boost-up settings were done, were the CPU settings reset?” he asked.
Hana thought for a moment “I'm not sure...but I got a new ECU installed about two weeks ago. Why?” she replied.
“Which came first? The boost-up or the ECU?” Takeshi inquired further. If I'm right about this, then I think the solution would be spot on as well.
“The boost-up, Toshi-niichan did the boost-up himself about a week before I got the ECU.” replied Hana.
“I have an idea why the power down happened, though I need computer tuning equipment to be sure.” said Takeshi. He then heard engine revving sounds from the parking area, when he looked he saw the blue S2000 leaving the parking space. It stopped in front of the open garage gate and revealed Toshiya in the driver seat, who was now out of his tracksuit and now dressed in a sky blue buttoned shirt.
“Toshi-niichan, where are you going?” asked Hana as she walked towards the S2000.
“Emergency meeting in the university, quite the timing though. Just tell the guys I'll be back by about 7pm.” he replied. “Well then, I'm off.” he said before sliding the windows up and setting off.
“Where's he going?” Takeshi asked as he walked beside Hana, looking at the S2000 driving away from the garage.
“Some meeting in Tokyo University, he's required to go to since he's a professor of IT there.” she replied before looking back at him “You know, the usual day jobs of road racers.”
Her last statement made Takeshi quite interested “What about you? Don't you have one of yours?”
“If it's considered a day job, then I guess I'm your regular university student.” said Hana, a slight tint of embarrassment present in her voice.
“So you're a student by day and tuner by night?” asked Takeshi
“It's not really an everyday thing, my schedule only has classes for three days a week, and I spend the rest of the week here in the garage.” said Hana, looking around as the garage as she told her story “This place has been my home, since Toshi-niichan the one taking care of me here in Tokyo while I'm studying.” noticing the curious look on Takeshi, she continued “I'm from Saitama, you see, and when I got into a degree in Psychology here in Tokyo, I really had to move in. Luckily, Toshi-niichan's found me a dorm near the school and he's been paying for it since. I figured the least I could do was help him out here.”
“There's quite the mutual gain from that, I've noticed.” said Takeshi.
“Oh, believe me, it's far from that. Initially, niichan didn't really like the idea of me working with cars during my free time, even though he knew I used to mess around with my car even back in Saitama, where I drove the touge nearly every weekend.” she replied, amused at her own memory “He got used to it eventually, but he still doesn't let me in here on my class days. I was actually happy when he asked me to look at the suspension settings of the team's cars, I really love to do it. It's been what I liked the most about tuning cars, most likely because I loved being on the mountain passes of Saitama.”
“You just like to drive fast, am I right?”
“It's more on the driving than the fast part, it's the one thing I feel free with.” her expression turned to a sad one moments later “To be honest though, I'm pretty scared when it comes to Shutokou. All the traffic, the fast roads, I really feel like it wants to eat me alive.” she said.
“Perhaps because you're not used to seeing much traffic, compared to the mountain passes which barely have traffic at night.” said Takeshi. I can relate, I've been driving on touge roads even before the highways and driving around the Hanshin Expressway back in Osaka gave me the chills when I was just new.
“Perhaps, but I haven't really gone over it. That's why I can't run with the others yet as part of the team.” replied Hana, walking over to her Z32 and placing her palm on the bonnet. “But I want to be like them, like Lia-chan.” At the mention of Lia's name, Takeshi went on full attention “She's really a brave driver, I don't know any other woman that drives a high-powered lightweight car on a place like Shutokou, that takes a lot of guts. She really pretty too, and I bet you've got a thing for her, Takeshi-san?” she said. Takeshi, once again, was blindsided by an inquiry about Lia. His face turned a shade of light pink and his eyes wandered, though that didn't escape the girl's notice. “Haha! I knew it! You like her, eh, Takeshi-san?” asked a gleeful Hana.
“Wha? It's nothing like that, Hana-san!” protested Takeshi.
“Look, I was actually just testing you and I didn't expect you to budge, but you did! Quite obviously, too!” Hana was really happy where the conversation was going. “Wanna know how I got the hint? Lia-chan was the first one to tell me about this new guy she and the others met last night, she sounded pretty eager to see him again and...oops, I shouldn't tell more. Hee-hee.” Hana quickly made her way inside of what looked like the garage's main office before Takeshi could say anything.
Takeshi simply sighed and shook his head at Hana's teasing. Oh dear, it looks like I'm in for some silly teasing here, though I really agree on how pretty Lia-chan looks. He blushed at the thought and looked to the side for a moment. Nope! Must not think like that, she's still an acquaintance and I can't say it'll go more than...wait, are those engine sounds? Takeshi walked out of the garage and into the parking lot when he heard engine sounds rumbling from a distance. Few seconds later, Ryu's light blue Evo V and Shinichi's R32 appeared into the parking area, a moment later and Hana burst out of the office and walked towards the two.
“You two are quite early!” she said as Ryu and Shinichi got out of their cars.
“Yup, got off school early.” replied Shinichi, he then saw Takeshi standing outside the garage “Takeshi-san! You made it!” he called out as he walked to him.
“Is senpai around, Hana-san?” asked Ryu.
“Unfortunately, he just left. He's had some emergency meeting back at the university, he said he'll be back by around 7 or something.” she replied.
Shinichi gave Takeshi a high five when he got close. “Good to see you here, buddy.” he said.
“Hey there! Really glad the place was easy to find, though.” replied Takeshi, who then saw Ryu walking towards them and nodded his head in acknowledgment.
“You've been here long, Takeshi-san?” asked Ryu.
“Not that long, I've only gotten around to see the inside of the garage.” he replied. “So how about you two, where have you been before here?” he asked.
“I'm actually in my 3rd year of high school, and I luckily got off early today.” said Shinichi, who looked towards Ryu “I just found Ryu-senpai on the way here.”
“I work as a contributor in an automotive magazine, so my work time's pretty open-ended.” said Ryu, then looking towards Shinichi “Are you sure you're not just cutting classes, Shin-kun?”
Shinichi was taken aback “S-senpai! That's not a nice joke! You know I'm a good student, I never cut class!” he said.
“Oh, I remember!” this time it was Hana “How many times were you late for morning class because you overslept out of driving the whole night before then?” she asked.
“Come on, you didn't have to remind me about those!” said Shinichi, who seemed to have ran out of excuses. “How about you, Takeshi-san? Where did you come from before going here?” he asked, quickly switching topics.
“Actually, I just came from my apartment since I haven't found any work here yet.” he replied “I'm quite interested in working in a family restaurant near my place though, just something to keep me afloat until I can find some other stable source.” he added.
“I see.” began Hana “If it's alright to ask, why don't you work here in the garage? We're currently short on people but I'm not sure the pay would be enough for you.” she said. Hana really wanted Takeshi to take the offer, but like any offer, it still needs to be carefully considered before anything.
Really? Work here? Of course, it would mean a lot experience around cars. “Sure, but are you sure it's okay? With Toshiya-senpai, I mean.” replied Takeshi. He had to be sure, though, as Toshiya did own the garage.
“Of course, if not for his meeting, he would have actually asked you himself.” replied Hana. “We've been talking about you before you arrived, and we actually discussed about offering you work here if ever you didn't have one. Plus, the tuning on the FD which you've done yourself is more than enough to tell that you know what you are doing.” she said.
“You should take this chance, Takeshi-san, I think it can really help you.” said Ryu “Unlike us, you actually understand how tuning works, and being in that environment will surely yield some valuable experience.”
“Thanks, guys.” said Takeshi, switching his glance to Hana's Z32 a moment later “By the way, Hana-san, can you drive your Z32 later tonight? I think I'll be able to correct the CPU settings better if the data comes from your driving style.” he said.
“Oh? You've already figured out what's up with Hana-chan's car?” asked Shinichi.
“It's more of an idea than a sure fix, but I'm sure I'll find the problem whether or not I'm able to fix it.” replied Takeshi. “So, Hana-san? Can you drive it tonight?”
“Sure, I'm not that good though, and you know I'm scared of going too fast along C1.” she replied.
“It's alright, all I need is for you to drive your car like you always do.” said Takeshi.
Takeshi then heard footsteps behind him and saw that Ryu was making his way up a steel staircase. “Come on, Takeshi-san, we'll show you the team lounge.” he said before opening a door into a room on the second floor.
“Team...lounge?” Takeshi asked.
“Yup, it's like the team office inside the garage.” replied Shinichi as he too made his way up the staircase.
Takeshi looked to Hana who raised her hands and shook her head “I actually got schoolwork to do, and someone's gotta keep watch of the garage while you guys are upstairs. I'll just be in the office.” she said before walking back into the main office. Takeshi then followed behind Shinichi and was surprised when they went inside. The place did not like anything inside a garage, it was a large room with white walls, a wide sofa on one side, a coffee table in front of it and a widescreen LCD TV with a home theater system and a gaming console below it on the other side. There was also a mini-bar complete with floor-mounted bar stools on the far side of the room.
“No way, what is this place?” an amazed Takeshi asked as his eyes wandered around the room.
“It's the Synchro BLiTZ team lounge.” replied Ryu, but seeing that Takeshi wanted more than just the plain response, he opted to elaborate “This is the team's meeting room and rest area. We can go here whenever we like, and whenever there's a scheduled meet, like today for instance, we always gather here. Since you're part of the team starting today, you're also welcome here anytime, Takeshi-san. Go ahead, feel at home.” he said before settling down on the wide sofa.
“Just enjoy the place, Takeshi-san.” added Shinichi before sitting on the sofa beside Ryu “While I, enjoy kicking Ryu-senpai's butt in fighting games!” he said rather enthusiastically as he pulled out two controllers from the coffee table cabinet.
Takeshi went ahead and walked around the room, finally settling for one of the bar stools in the mini-bar area. He watched as Ryu and Shinichi taunt each other as they battled it out in a game of MvC3, with Shinichi looking to have the upper hand. His eyes wandered to a lit monitor mounted on the walls of the mini-bar, he looked closer and saw that it was a live CCTV feed of the entire garage. It had cameras placed in the garage area and the outside parking. Interesting, so even a place like this is worried about security.
Minutes later, even Takeshi was drawn into the gaming session, as Ryu handed him the controller after several rounds of repeated defeat. Takeshi suddenly found himself becoming a real part of the team, getting closer to the people he'd met the day before. I'm gonna have a great time with these people, I can feel it, on and off the road. These guys are amazing, am I lucky to meet them or what?
*********
Meanwhile, Toshiya had parked his car in front of a convenience store a few blocks from Tokyo University. He was heading back to the garage when he received a phone call while on the way. Looking at the passing cars, he heard the high-pitched sound of a rotary engine from a distance a few minutes later, and when it got closer, it revealed the source to be a purple-silver FD3S. The car parked in front of the store, beside Toshiya's S2000.
“So, what do you want? It's not like you to just call me up after two years.” said Toshiya as the FD driver got out, quite irritated. The FD driver had long brown hair that extended below his neck down to the middle of his shoulders. He wore a green t-shirt with black pants and black shoes.
“I've heard the Apollo Speed guys have been giving your team heat recently.” said the FD driver.
“Not that much, I wouldn't want to reveal secrets to them this early.” replied Toshiya “But I know that's not what you came to talk about, Toji. It's been two years, surely you did not call to talk about what we've been doing now.” he added.
“Yeah, you're right. What I called you for was that I wanted to run again. You, me, and Okami.” said Toji, his tone all serious.
“What for, Toji? Two years ago, Okami nearly died, who knows if he wants to run again!?” Toshiya was quite outraged. He didn't seem to like whatever Toji's idea was.
“The Z did not die, and Okami's still driving it today. What's there to not like?” retorted Toji, insistent on his idea of a race.
“What's there to even consider? There was no outcome to that battle apart from Okami's crash.” replied Toshiya “Are you now suggesting that we put an end to it this time?” he asked.
“Yes, this time for sure, we'll find out the true winner.” replied Toji “What do you say, Toshiya? I know you've always kept that Supra, even though you're driving a much weaker one now.” he added.
Toshiya thought about it for a moment before making his reply. “Alright, but this would be the last time. After this, it's over.”
“Good, I'll call just Okami up to set the date.” said Toji before getting back into his FD and starting the engine. “It's nice to see you again, Toshiya.” he said before driving out of the convenience store. Toshiya watched the FD drive down the road before getting into his S2000 and driving off as well, heading back to the garage.
“Two years have passed and when I thought I've gotten over it...it chases me down again. But this time will be the last, the legend of the Black Scorpion will meet its end, either in sound victory or bitter defeat.” Toshya said to himself as he cruised along the streets of Tokyo.
This post has been edited by Antares on Oct 12 2012, 02:48 AM
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Here's chapter 4, hopefully I didn't take too long. I would be starting on Chapter 5 soon though, so it'll come soon. Enjoy!
CHAPTER 4 ~ Meeting the Unfriendly Neighbors
SPOILER
1800 Hours, Speed Works Toshi, Tokyo
Back at the lounge, Takeshi went back to the mini bar after a few rounds of playing fighting games with Ryu and Shinichi, who seemed to have gotten tired of virtual beat-em-ups and switched to a basketball video game for a change. Switching glances between his glass of lime soda and the CCTV monitors every now and then, Takeshi then noticed a car pull up in front of the garage, parking beside the Evo and the R32.
Taking a closer look, Takeshi noticed it was Lia's MX5 that had parked. She soon got out of her car and walked towards the office downstairs in the garage.
“Good evening!” greeted Lia as she entered through the office door.
“Hi there, Lia-nee.” replied Hana who was seated at the table reading what looked like to be a textbook. “Just got off from work?” she asked.
Lia nodded “Yeah, though I'm really tired.” she said as she quickly took a seat by the table. “The studio just got this huge magazine gig and everyone had to be on the shoot for five hours straight.” she then let out a relieved sigh “When the shoot ended I just wanted to get here for some rest.”
Hana then closed her book and placed it on the table before looking back at Lia “Wow, I never knew being a model could be so tiring.” she said in honest curiosity.
Lia simply shrugged “Trust me, Hana-chan, standing and posing in front of the camera for hours on end will eventually take its toll.” she said “Honestly, even I was surprised that it could actually be so tiring.” she then stood up and looked out the window, noticing the car that was raised on one of the platform jack “That FD...isn't that...” she trailed off
“Takeshi-san's FD.” Hana finished. “I see you've noticed, he just brought it in today.” she added, apparently studying Lia's expression.
“How long has it been here? Is he still around?” came more questions from Lia. Excited would be somewhat fitting of a description for her at that moment.
A smile slowly grew on Hana's lips before she replied “He's up at the lounge with Ryu-senpai and Shin-kun.” she said casually.
Without another word, Lia made her way out of the office and up the stairs to the lounge. Hana, surprised at how Lia went by, just shook her head and smiled. “To think I could actually be right in guessing for once.” she said to herself.
Lia knocked on the door a few times before letting herself in “I'm going in, okay?” she said as she gently opened the door. She was met with the sounds of basketball announcers and cheering crowds that came from Ryu and Shinichi's game. She looked around the room and saw Takeshi seated at the mini bar, waving at her. She smiled and waved back before walking towards him, completely ignoring the other two at the sofa.
Shinichi pulled his headset down when Lia went past behind them “Some good evening there, Lia-chan.” he said.
Lia turned around and playfully pouted at Shinichi “You wouldn't want me to disturb you two when you're so busy playing now, would you?” she said before resuming towards Takeshi. Shinichi gaped at her, uttering an inaudible sound before turning back to his game, where Ryu sneaked an unguarded three point when he wasn't looking. “No fair, senpai! That point was clearly faulty!” he retorted, to which Ryu simply laughed at.
“Thanks for that, Lia-chan.” said Ryu who was more cautious and had paused the game to avoid revenge from Shinichi. Lia simply waved an arm in acknowledgement.
Lia took the seat beside Takeshi. “Good evening, Takeshi-kun.” she said before she playfully winked at him, which made him slightly flinch, turn red on his cheeks and look away from her for a moment.
“G-good evening, Lia-chan.” replied Takeshi after regaining himself. He looked at her and saw she was dressed in a peach colored t-shirt and light blue skinny jeans that he thought to have shown her figure quite well.
“When did you get here? I was actually surprised to see your car downstairs when I came in.” she asked as she grabbed a hanging wine glass from the bar table and poured herself a glass of lime soda.
“I actually just came in this afternoon, about 3:30.” replied Takeshi “This place has been great so far, and Hana-san's kept me company before Ryu-san and Shinichi-san arrived.” he added.
“How about Toshiya-san? Wasn't he here when you came in?” she asked
“Well, he was here, but he had to leave, said he had some meeting to attend to.” He paused for a moment “How about you, Lia-chan? Did you get off from work or something before coming here?” he asked.
“I work as a model for this studio that does shoots for different fashion magazines.” she replied, noticing what looked like confusion in Takeshi's face, she smiled and opted for a more simple approach “Basically, you get to see me in fashion magazines every now and then.”
“Wow, you must be really famous then, being in magazines in all.” said Takeshi. So this girl's a fashion model...and a road racer, weird, but at the same time, she's pretty cool.
Lia shook her head “I wouldn't really say famous, Takeshi-san.” she began “The outfits are still the main attraction in the magazines, though sometimes I get people recognizing me as one of the models.” she said.
“I see.” Takeshi slowly nodded his head “How long have you been doing it, though?” he asked
“Umm, let's see...” Lia looked up and tapped a finger to her chin as if she was counting “Well, my first studio shoot was before I graduated high school, which was last year so I'd say it's been a little over a year.” she said. It was then Lia who gave the next question “How about you, Takeshi-san? What do you do besides being a road racer?”
“Believe it or not, Hana-san just offered me work here in the shop.” said Takeshi, his voice hinting that he still couldn't believe it himself. Lia looked surprised at his answer, so he continued to explain “I was still looking for a job until today, and there was this restaurant near my apartment that looked nice, but when Hana-san's offer came up I just couldn't refuse.”
“So does that mean you're gonna work on our cars soon?” Lia's question was more of a when question than a yes-or- no type.
“Probably, I've actually arranged to work on Hana-san's Z tonight, since I think I have a solution to the power down problems she's having.” came Takeshi's reply. It was likely obvious from his tone, but Takeshi was excited to work on the Z32, as it would have been the first car he's touched besides his own FD.
“Really? That's great!” said a glad Lia “Hana-chan's been worrying about her car more and more ever since the problem started, I'm sure she's really excited to have her car fixed, Takeshi-kun.”
“I've noticed, though she isn't really optimistic about driving around Shutokou, since I asked her to drive tonight while I look at the readings.” his expression changed to one of concern “I wonder if there's any way to help her with it, it's hard to be pretty nervous around traffic. Plus, she wants to be a part of the team.” he said
Lia sighed in disbelief “Yes, she does, but Toshiya-san would not let her even if she did get over her fear.” she said, upon noticing Takeshi's surprised look, she explained further “Even though he acknowledges her as both a tuner and a driver, Toshiya-san wouldn't let Hana-chan be in danger. That's because Hana-chan's parents entrusted her to him while she's here in Tokyo, and he cares for her too much to even let her take the risks.” she said.
Takeshi too, sighed in disbelief “I'd have to agree with Toshiya-san there, but still, it's gonna be hard for Hana-san, as she's really working hard for it. I assume she doesn't know this?” he asked
“No, only you, me and Toshiya-san himself knows about this.” replied Lia “He doesn't want to give her false hopes, but he just couldn't let her out there.” she said before finishing her glass of lime soda.
“Would you like some more?” asked Takeshi, grabbing the bottle of soda and putting it closer to Lia's glass.
“No, thank you. I'll just get some water.” replied Lia, who stood up and went on to open the small fridge under the bar table, taking out a bottle of mineral water and drinking from it. “Ah, cold water, always feels so nice.” she said before making her way back to her seat. “Anyways, you don't mind if I tag along with you and Hana-chan tonight, do you?” she asked.
“Of course not.” quickly replied Takeshi “I think it'll be good to have you there, since you know Hana-san more than I.” he added.
Lia pursed her lips and look at him intently before speaking “Are you really saying that for Hana-chan's sake or are you just glad that I would be there?” she asked in a serious tone.
Takeshi took no time to reply “If I'm honest, it's for both. I'll be looking out more for Hana-san than her car all the while, and I think having you there would help ease her worries, apart from the fact that I actually like having you around.” he said.
Lia had a stunned look on her face for a moment before she spoke again “Wow...oh, alright then. Forget I asked.” she said, looking away from him for a moment, her cheeks slightly turning red. Takeshi noticed this and dared to ask.
“Did...did I say anything wrong, Lia-chan?” he asked
Lia shook her head and smiled “Nope, I just can't believe you're surprisingly honest, Takeshi Kajimoto.” she said “It's no surprise when I say I'm pretty used to flattery, given what I do, but I've never met a guy who's been honest with what they think of me from the start, you just became the first.” she paused for a moment “You're a pretty interesting person, Takeshi-kun.”
Takeshi blushed at Lia's remarks. Interesting, huh? I wish I knew more of what she meant behind that word He couldn't believe he actually garnered Lia's interest. He then saw her get off her seat and head towards the door “Where are you going?” he asked.
She stopped and turned towards Takeshi slightly, looking at him from the corner of her eyes. “Just off to get a nap downstairs at the office, today's been pretty busy and I need to be pretty awake later.” she said before making her way out of the room.
Shinichi and Ryu noticed this and paused their game moments after Lia left. “What's the deal? Did she need to go somewhere or what?” asked Shinichi, who didn't quite hear Lia as he was wearing his headset while playing. “She wanted to get some peace and quiet, Shinichi, that's why she went down to the office.” replied Ryu.
Shinichi shrugged and then looked at Takeshi with a mischievous grin “I saw how you two were having quite the chat there, Takeshi-kun.” he said. “I wonder how nice it must have been, given how red you look right now.” he added, his smile growing wider. Ryu rolled his eyes at Shinichi's teasing.
“You sure know how to tease people, Shinichi, but what if I told Takeshi-san about how you liked Ha--mmph!” Ryu was interrupted by a panicked Shinichi, who quickly covered his mouth before he could finish his sentence.
Shinichi then looked at Takeshi, while still having a hand on Ryu's mouth “Takeshi-kun, you heard nothing, alright!?” he said before putting his headset back on and resuming the game.
Takeshi, surprised at the quick transition of events, just continued to watch Ryu and Shinichi play, getting himself a glass of lime soda every now and then. He eventually fell asleep, slumping on the bar table.
2230 Hours, Speed Works Toshi
Takeshi was awoken by the feeling of someone tugging at his shoulders. He groaned as he slowly got up on the bar stool he was sitting on, and saw Toshiya placing a glass of water beside him. “Hope you got a good rest.” he said as he made his way inside the mini-bar and put the pitcher of water back into the mini-fridge under the bar table.
“Oh, good evening, Toshiya-san.” greeted Takeshi before drinking from the water glass. He looked around the room and saw that the two boys were still inside the lounge, only this time the game console was turned off, Ryu was now reading a magazine and Shinichi was fast asleep on the sofa, still wearing his headset on.
“I've heard from Hana-chan, Takeshi-kun.” Toshiya got himself a can of cola and took a gulp “Just remind her to be careful and she'll be alright, she pretty much trusts you already so I don't think she'll be much of a handful.” he said before taking the seat beside Takeshi. “I'm sure Lia's told you this too, but I really can't let Hana out there yet, she's still young and inexperienced around here. I think you understand my point.”
Takeshi nodded “Yeah, but still, she really wants to race, won't you really give her a chance?” he asked softly, keeping in mind that only him, Toshiya and Lia know about the sensitive topic.
“If somehow she manages to prove that she can handle her own out there, then I think I could reconsider. But right now, I really won't let her.” replied Toshiya. He looked at his wristwatch a moment later “Lia and Hana and waiting for you down at the garage.” he said.
Takeshi finished his glass of water before standing up from the mini-bar, as he was heading for the door, Toshiya called his attention. “Be careful.” he mouthed. Takeshi nodded in response before continuing out the lounge. Downstairs, Hana was waiting by her Z32 outside the garage while Lia was by her MX5.
“Are we all set here?” he asked when he got near Hana.
“Yup, the computer dyno is already inside the car, you're the only we need actually.” replied Hana, very enthusiastic about it.
“Okay, shall we go then?” asked Takeshi, he then looked over to Lia, who simply nodded before getting into her MX5.
“Alright, let's go!” Hana then went around the car to the driver side and quickly got in. Takeshi opened the passenger-side door and saw a laptop on the seat with several cords connected to the center console, he placed the laptop on the dash as he went inside before taking it again when he was settled.
Takeshi looked at Hana when the engine started “Let me remind you, Hana-san, we're only gonna test the car for a lap around C1. You don't have to go all-out, just drive at the pace you're comfortable with.” he said. He noticed the nervous look she had as she took a few deep breaths before looking at him. “Okay, I'll do my best.” she said.
Hana's phone, which was placed on a mount near the center console rang, she pressed the receive button and put the phone on loudspeaker, and Lia's voice came in. “Are we setting off now?” she asked.
“Yeah, we're going now Lia-nee.” came Hana's reply as she gently shifted the car to 1st gear and slowly set off Speed Works Toshi, the MX5 following behind.
“So what's the plan? Are you gonna drive C1 tonight?” asked Lia as they were cruising down the streets of Tokyo.
“Yes, just one lap though, I think a lap around C1's long enough to get what I need.” replied Takeshi, looking observantly at the data that the computer was showing him. Previous logs...there...oh, so that's what it is. I was right, the CPU does not match the turbo settings, the power curve post-boost up definitely improved around the low to mid rev range, but significantly dropped down coming in to the high revs, the pre-boost up power curve is a lot more stable than this. I just need about five acceleration tests to get the car tuned to her driving.
They got onto C1 at the Edo Bridge Exit and found that there wasn't much traffic. “Hana-san, I'm gonna need five trials on acceleration, first up, I need to test the car's current acceleration from third gear to fourth gear, can you do that for me?” he asked.
“Do you need me to do it at full throttle?” Hana asked nervously. Takeshi shook his head in response “No, just drive at a pace your comfortable with.” Hana slowly pressed the gas pedal deeper once she hit 3rd gear, the car was going from 120km/h to about 180km/h before the tachometer reached 7000rpm where she shifted the car to 4th, she lightened her throttle press shortly afterwards, the car slowly decreasing speed.
“Okay, I got the data.” said Takeshi Yup, that's definitely lag right there. The car's acceleration from 120 to 180 felt a bit too slow, even for a car that has 320hp. “Next up, we'll test the acceleration from 4th to 5th gear, is that okay?” he asked.
Hana studied the traffic ahead of the road, which was mostly concentrated on the right lane. “Alright, I'll give it a shot.” shifting her car down to 3rd, she quickly accelerated again before shifting to 4th, then pressed her foot down deeper as the car reached above 200km/h. She looked at her tachometer that was slowly reaching 7000rpm and prepared to shift up when she saw a truck about 100m away, swerving over to the left lane, panicked, she quickly let her foot off the gas and onto the brakes.
The sudden braking took Takeshi by surprise, as he held the laptop tighter to keep it from falling when he suddenly jerked forward. He quickly looked at Hana and noticed that was panicking, her breathing quickened. “Are you alright, Hana-san?” he asked. He looked ahead and saw the truck that was already in their lane. She saw the truck from a distance and panicked, thinking that she'd crash into it.
“Hana-chan, is everything okay?” Lia asked over the loudspeaker, she sounded as if she knew that Hana had panicked. Moments later, Hana had relaxed and seemingly regained her composure.
“I'm sorry, Takeshi-san, I panicked when I saw the truck change lanes.” she said, quickly getting the car back to pace. “Can I try again once the traffic's a bit clearer?” she asked.
“Alright, just tell me whenever you're ready.” replied Takeshi. He again looked at the computer for the partial data that he got So the power curve actually gets worse when reaching 4th gear, I guess I don't need to test 5th gear anymore. I think I can settle for a full sprint from 3rd to 5th gear.
Once they have reached Take Bridge JCT, the traffic had become clearer. “The traffic's better here, I'm starting on 4th to 5th now, Takeshi-san.” said Hana before she pressed down on the throttle, letting the car slowly accelerate to above 200km/h once more, and when the tachometer hit 7000rpm at 230km/h, she quickly shifted to 5th gear.
“Nice, data collection complete.” said Takeshi as the Z32 started to decelerate, looking back at the laptop for the complete data on 4th to 5th gear acceleration. The partial data from earlier made it pretty predictable, the lag gets worse at this point, I think it took the car 10 seconds to go from 4th to 5th He then looked at Hana, who seemed more relaxed now Her reaction times are pretty amazing, if I could gauge it properly, I'd say her shifting reaction is faster than mine, and that makes the car easier to tune since the percentage error between the predicted tuning results and the actual drive itself wouldn't become that big.
“What do you need next, Takeshi-san?” asked Hana, gently cruising down C1 at 180km/h. Takeshi looked down to the computer once more before he replied “Just one last test and we're done, I need a constant half-throttle run from 3rd gear to 5th gear.” he said. A moment later, Hana shifted down from 5th to 3rd and gently pressed down on the throttle until she felt she was pressing down at 50%, letting the car accelerate slowly.
It took about 10 seconds for the car to reach redline at 3rd gear shifting up to 4th, while it took a little more than 30 seconds to reach redline at 4th gear before shifting up to 5th. Once the car had reached top gear, Hana kept half-throttle pressed until Takeshi told her the test was complete “Got it, you can slow down now, Hana-san.” he told her.
Takeshi was analyzing the data until he heard loud engine noises coming from behind them. Before he could look at the rear view mirrors to see what was coming up from behind, Lia's MX5 was going faster, its nose inches from the Z32. “Guys, we got company, we better get off the highway quick!” Lia called out over the line. “We've already went past Miyakezaka, so the next exit is Tanimachi, come on, step on it!” her voice was louder, meaning that something was definitely coming after them.
Hana quickly shifted the Z32 down to 3rd gear and started to go full throttle “Hana-san, be careful!” said Takeshi as even at full throttle, the car was still accelerating slowly, and as they neared the Tanimachi exit, the cars that were chasing them had already caught up, and blocked the off ramp towards the exit.
“Shit! We're boxed in!” cried out Lia as they were forced to go straight along C1. Lia's MX5 and Hana's Z32 was surrounded by 4 cars, one on each side. Takeshi looked and saw that the one in front of them was a silver Nissan R35 GT-R, the one on their left was a black Nissan 370Z, the car on their right was a gray Toyota JZA70 Supra, and he could barely make out the dark purple Mitsubishi Evolution VIII blocking their rear behind Lia's MX5.
“Who are these guys!?” quickly asked Takeshi
“Apollo Speed Racing, a rival team of Synchro BLiTZ.” replied Lia, clearly not liking the situation “Who'd have thought the New Belt Line guys would actually have the guts to invade C1, they've been waiting for us.” she added.
“But why surround us!? What's the point!?” this time it was Hana, a hint of fear present in her voice.
“I don't know but whatever they do, don't brake hard or accelerate out, just stay steady, got that!?” Lia was in a pinch, she had to look out for Hana, and the fact that they were boxed in could actually make her freak out if the ASR cars decide to do something soon.
“Alright, I'll try.” came Hana's soft reply. She was now shaking, clearly scared of whatever intentions the cars around them have in mind. Moments later, the cars on the side slowly edged themselves closer to Hana's Z32, and when the Supra and the 370Z were inches from the Z32's doors, Hana snapped and pressed down on the brakes hard. When Lia saw the Z32's brake lights go on, she immediately hit the brakes hard and pulled on the handbrake.
The MX5 spun around and Lia steered the car so that it would stop on the shoulder lane, the MX5's rear bumper nearly making contact with the passing Evo 8 as it spun. Hana's Z32 finally came to a stop a few meters ahead of the roadster. The four cars did not leave them, as they turned on their hazard lights and parked on the right side lane.
Lia was tense, she was breathing heavily “So these guys want to take us out as well, huh? As if attacking Toshiya-san 4-on-1 wasn't enough...” She knew their situation, they had to get away, but with their pursuers just waiting to chase them down again, she had to find some way to get them out of the mess in one piece.
“They...they attacked Toshi-niichan?” Hana couldn't believe what she had heard, that the four cars that were chasing them down right now tried to take out her cousin once before.
“Yeah, but unlike us right now, they couldn't even get close to Toshiya-san back then because he simply outran them.” replied Lia “We have to find a way out of here, we'll fight through if we need to.” she added
“Are you sure, Lia-chan? We're pretty much cornered here.” said Takeshi. He had point though, Lia's car was way underpowered compared to any of the four cars of ASR, Hana's Z32 was technically a crippled and Hana wouldn't be able to drive fast enough.
Before they could do anything else, engine noises could be heard from behind and when Takeshi and Lia looked behind them, they saw two cars driving fast towards them, both cars were flashing their headlights, one of which had red lights while the other had blue, and both of the cars had a flashing blue light on the upper part of their windshields. As they got nearer, Takeshi and Lia heard the four cars of ASR drive off in a hurry, seemingly running away from the approaching cars.
The two fast cars drove by side-by-side, and Takeshi saw that the car with the blue headlights was a purple-silver Mazda FD3S RX7, while the other car was a white Nissan 240Z. The two cars quickly disappeared as they were chasing after the four cars. “Who...were those two...just now?” asked a stunned Takeshi. [i]Who were those two...this feeling, it's similar to that when I met Toshiya-san, only stronger.
“I...don't know, but they sure saved our butts this time around.” said Lia, equally stunned, yet relieved as their pursuers quickly ran away. “Hana-chan, are you alright? I'm sorry you had to see that.” she said over the phone.
“Yeah, I'm fine...I'm sorry I freaked out earlier.” replied Hana, who was still shaking. Takeshi put a hand on her shoulder to try and calm her down, she looked at him with a scared look and was met with a reassuring smile. “It's okay, Hana-san, I know you were scared.” said Takeshi, moments later, Hana broke down in tears, unable to hold her emotions back. “I...I was so scared...I thought something bad was gonna happen...” she said in between sobs.
Lia couldn't help but look down in disappointment, “I'm so sorry, Hana-chan...I should have noticed them sooner.” she said.
“It's not your fault, Lia-chan, they were just waiting to strike all this time.” said Takeshi, gently patting Hana's back to help her calm down. “Come on, let's get back. I'll drive you back to the garage, Hana-san.” Takeshi drove the Z32 back to the garage, where Ryu's Evo 5 and Shinichi's R32 were nowhere to be found. They dropped Hana off there and told the story to Toshiya, who was pretty mad at what happened.
“You can leave your car here, Takeshi-san, you can come back for it tomorrow and I promise you it'll be done by then.” said Hana before making her way inside the office.
“Thank you, Takeshi-kun, Lia-chan, for looking out for Hana.” said Toshiya as he looked at Hana as she went inside “I'll figure something out to do about this, meanwhile, I hope you two have a good night.” he added before following Hana inside the office.
“Come on, Takeshi-kun, I'll drive you back to your place.” came Lia. She was gesturing towards her MX5 before she opened the door to get in. Takeshi soon followed and the two set off from the shop.
About twenty minutes later they arrived in front of Takeshi's apartment. “Thanks for earlier, Takeshi-kun.” said Lia.
Takeshi was confused at her sudden remark “Thanks? For what?” he asked.
“For looking after Hana-chan, I wouldn't have been able to ease her worries earlier if it were just me.” she replied. “You should get going now, it's pretty late.”
“I think I should.” said Takeshi as he unfastened the shoulder belts on the seat and opened the door, “Good night, Lia-chan.” he said. He was about to step out of the car when Lia suddenly leaned over to him and gave him a quick peck on the cheek.
“Good night, Takeshi-kun.” she said.
This post has been edited by Antares on Oct 12 2012, 02:48 AM
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wouldn't the differently colored headlights make it harder to see at night? APS should get a closer look and barely any Toshiya exposure this time. a quick proofread should eliminate the missing words. overall a good chapter
This post has been edited by Solstice on Sep 17 2012, 06:12 AM
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Another update, and this time, we find out what happened in the prelude. Enjoy! CHAPTER 5 ~ The Unresolved Strife
SPOILER
---2330 Hours, Speed Works Toshi---
Hana had told Toshiya everything that had happened in her perspective. He wasn't happy with how desperate ASR was with getting their attention, their actions only meant one thing, they want a race, and Toshiya was more than willing to give them just that.
“Take a rest for while, Hana-chan, I'll drive you home once I'm done with things here.” he told her before leaving her inside the office. He walked outside the garage and went to the back, where a small garage was located. The garage was like the usual house garage with two grated gates on each half, meaning it fit two cars in.
Walking over to the garage, Toshiya pressed a button on the side walls that slowly raised the left gate. Toshiya looked intently at what was inside.
Once the Apollo have been dealt with, I'll then be worrying myself with this car. He thought as he observed the vehicle that was parked. It was a black Toyota Supra JZA80, though it looked far from the one he drove the night before. The black color of this Supra came from the naked carbon fiber bodykit that it had, the same bodykit used in the 2001 Super GT version of the Supra. It was clearly hidden in the night, as the black Volk TE37SL wheels kept it camouflaged inside the garage.
Yuki...Okami...should we really be doing this again? Didn't we get enough answers the last time, that there can never be the absolute best. The Society Rankings are just there to show who's the best at this time or another, but no one can hold on to number one for too long...not even him.
----Two Years Ago---- ---2300 Hours, Edo Bridge JCT, C1---
Once the three cars have left the PA, they went on full blast, with the purple-silver FD in the lead, followed closely by the black Supra and the white S30 behind. They were on full throttle coming in to the steep slope leading up to the road dividers. Avoiding traffic on the uphill slope, the FD decelerated while the S30 simply squeezed through traffic and passed the FD at full speed, the Supra lagging behind traffic, unable to find a way through.
Both lanes on the divider were open and the S30 took the right lane while the FD took the left lane. The Supra found a clear path and accelerated out of traffic to catch up with the other two cars. Coming in to the straight leading to the uphill towards Edo Bridge junction, the Supra was able to catch to the other two with its high powered engine.
“Tch, power accounts for more in the uphill, eh Toshiya?” said Okami
“This won't be a good race if we don't use everything our cars have, Okami.” replied Toshiya
Once they reached the small jump, the Supra took a farther jump because of its faster speed coming in. The Supra immediately swerved to the left and braked hard before drifting through the tight left-hander, followed closely by the S30, that drifted through the corner as well, and the FD that took the traditional out-in-out grip line instead of drifting. The slight advantage that the FD had in exit speed allowed it to close the distance to the S30.
“Sometimes, it's not always about flashy cornering.” came Yuki after he had gotten close to Okami's S30
“Yuki Toji and his all-grip driving, the fastest in Yokohane, nothing less than expected.” said Toshiya as he looked at his rearview mirrors
“You seem pretty happy about it, Toshiya.” said Okami, not so happy about getting tailgated by the FD
“Nope, I'm actually apprehensive about it.” replied Toshiya
The three cars kept in line as they headed towards Kanda Bridge, following Toshiya's line in dodging traffic. Once they arrived at the banked corners of Kanda Bridge, Okami made his move. The S30 lined up beside the Supra coming to the banked right, taking the right lane and passing Toshiya with better acceleration due to taking the lesser banked road. Okami quickly switched to the left lane on the next corner, creating more distance from the two cars as he used the lower banked side to his advantage. Yuki also took advantage of the situation and lined up beside the Supra on the second corner, but with Toshiya taking a defensive line, Yuki settled for lining his car up behind Toshiya's Supra, keeping on the left lane to stay inside C1 when they passed the Take Bridge JCT.
“Now I see why you're so famous around these parts, Okami, you practically know the road like the back of your hand.” said Yuki as he noticed how fast the S30 took the corners
“Goes with experience, Yuki, the same can be said for the both of you on your own areas.” replied Yuki
As they approached the first of two tunnels along Route 1, they encountered a pair of Nissan R34 GT-R's racing near the tunnel entrance, but because both cars were keeping to the right lane and were on a much slower pace, they simply breezed past, with Okami drifting his S30 at a low angle going about 180km/h and intentionally using the hood of the leading GT-R as a clipping point, spooking out the driver and forcing him to brake at the proximity.
Yuki whistled as he went past the braking GT-R “I think you scared that one, Okami.” he said
“Sorry, force of habit.” replied Okami, though he really wasn't serious.
The three cars came upon the tunnel exit where Yuki made his move to pass the Supra. Carrying a faster corner exit speed combined with the slipstream, the FD was able to move past the Supra on the Daikancho IC at the tunnel exit. Yuki was able to keep his position through the mid-speed corners leading up to the next tunnel.
In the long tunnel straight that leads up to Miyakesaka JCT located inside the tunnel, Yuki took a defensive line to prevent the Supra from passing, while at the same time, chasing after the S30, which was slightly weaker than the FD. With traffic present on the right lane coming in to Miyakesaka, Okami opted to play safe and decelerated early coming in to the left-hander. Yuki noticed this and attacked, passing the S30 while clearing the walls by mere inches as the corner radius straightened out mid-way. The Supra meanwhile, used the corner as a slingshot and went past the S30 after the corner straightened out.
It was a fast paced race, and the S30 was lagging behind in the tunnel because of its slightly weaker engine. At the Miyakesaka JCT exit, which came before the right-hander, Okami changed his style to a grip-oriented style, and because the S30 was considerably lighter than both the FD and the Supra, it was easily able to close the gap with the Supra.
The formation kept close as they passed Kasumigaseki IC, following Yuki's line as they dodged traffic which was present on both sides of the road up until they reached the tunnel exit and eventually the Akasaka straight. It was there that Toshiya's Supra attacked with raw power and passed Yuki's FD, with Okami's S30 catching the Supra's slipstream and following him in breezing past the FD.
“The Akasaka attack, huh? I wonder if you'll succeed this time, Toshiya.” said Yuki as he watched the Supra accelerate from 180km/h coming out of the tunnel to above 220km/h.
Traffic was clear in the whole of Akasaka straight leading up to Tanicho JCT, and the Supra managed to hit 300km/h just before decelerating to take the small left-hander. Okami's S30 only reached 285km/h but he was able to take the corner without reducing much speed, while Yuki's FD reached 290km/h just before the corner entry.
The three cars were on full-throttle down the long straights and fast corners, passing the Iikura IC, gradually slowing down along the generally tighter corners heading up towards the Ichino Bridge JCT. The two cars behind the Supra found themselves gaining as they took the corners faster than the heavyweight monster.
“Tokyo Tower, we're nearing your area, Toshiya.” said Yuki as the cars went on the straight roads heading up towards Shiba Park and Tokyo Tower. “Only five kilometers left before we leave C1, better make your move, Okami.” he added
“Don't worry, you guys won't leave me behind that easily.” replied Okami confidently.
The cars breezed past the long esses along the Shiba Park area, easily weaving past the traffic that was luckily on the outside lane of each corner. As the cars approached Hamasaki JCT, Yuki made a move to pass the Supra at corner entry, Toshiya relents from his line and lets Yuki through. When they come out of Hamasaki and onto the straights leading up to Shibaura JCT, the Supra comes back but stays behind Yuki, not attempting to attack. Okami's S30 stays in the Supra slipstream to avoid getting left behind.
“Are you planning something, Toshiya?” asked Okami as he noticed the Supra refusing to take any attacking line
“Kind of, but that will be for later.” replied Toshiya
Steering clear of Shibaura JCT, the trio eventually reach the stretch of road heading towards Rainbow Bridge. Once there, they pass a group of tuner cars parked on the shoulder lane, seemingly waiting for a challenge. Not a second later though, the cars were out of view as the trio were going at about 250km/h towards Daiba IC. Once past Daiba, Toshiya edged closer to the FD, but still stayed on its tail.
“I get the feeling something's coming at Ariake.” said Yuki
“Well, we never know that for sure, at least we're sure something is coming.” added Okami
Reaching Ariake JCT leading to Wangan, Yuki kept a defensive line going around the mid-speed right hander, staying on the center line and preparing to block the left lane. Contrary to his plan though, Toshiya dove into the right lane at the moment when the road was still wide, squeezing past a van as the road narrowed back down to two lanes.
“Damn it, I knew you were planning something!” said Yuki as he saw Toshiya's Supra speed ahead of him
“You were thinking of me going for a slingshot, weren't you? You thought wrong there.” replied Toshiya as they went down the ramp towards the Wangan Line. In an attempt to keep up with the pace, Okami went full throttle while using the slipstream from Yuki's FD to help with the added acceleration. Once down the Wangan, Toshiya went full out, accelerating from 250km/h to 300km/h in less than 4 seconds, creating distance between him and the other two.
“Crap, we're in trouble here.” said Yuki as he noticed the Supra slowly pulling away.
“Yeah, all that 800HP is no joke when it comes to the Wangan.” said Okami
The cars now entered a power battle, it was already late midnight and traffic was nearly non-existent. The Supra was hitting a maximum of 340km/h past the 13th Region IC while the FD and the S30 maxed out at only about 320km/h. The Supra was getting away by the second, and that much was obvious to both Yuki and Okami. Coming into Haneda Tunnel, the Supra's advantage has increased to about 50m, while the S30 is now side-by-side with the FD after it escaped from the slipstream.
“I guess it's time to use this.” said Okami.
The S30 suddenly jerked forward and started to accelerate more, completely overtaking the FD, surprising Yuki. “What the heck just happened?” he asked, unable to comprehend how the weaker Z was able to pass his FD.
“Overboost on the ECU, I had it prepared just for the Wangan.” replied Okami, he was now reaching speeds of over 340km/h and was slowly gaining on Toshiya, his engine revs on overdrive. As they exited the tunnel and passed the Ooi service road entrance, the Z was now side-by-side with the Supra. The Supra in the center then pulled back behind the S30 when a truck was ahead in his lane, giving Okami the lead as they neared the Ooi JCT that they would take to go to the final stage of their race, Yokohane.
As Okami was overtaking the truck, it suddenly swerved left, and clipped the rear of the S30. The car spun around and the rear hit the divider on the junction, breaking the rear windshield, clipping off the rear bumper and breaking the rear suspension as it went airborne, spinning in the air as it went across the road, landing in the rightmost lane when the car's left side hit the guardrail hard. The impact nearly left the entire car warped, as the left side of the car was unrecognizable and the front windshield cracked.
“Okami!” Toshiya and Yuki cried out when they saw the S30 crash on the right. They immediately hit the brakes and stopped their cars around the immobile Z. Both drivers got out of their cars and ran towards the driver side, which was thankfully facing away from the guardrail. Toshiya forced the door open and quickly reached for the ignition key and twisted it off, cutting the engine and avoiding the risks of an explosion.
Yuki looked at Okami and found that he was just barely conscious, he had a cut on his forehead with blood slowly dripping down along the side of his face. “Okami! Can you hear me?” he asked, attempting to get a response from him.
“Y..yeah...just barely...” came Okami's weak reply.
“We gotta get him to a hospital fast.” said Toshiya as he focused on undoing Okami's harnesses. As soon as he got it off, Yuki helped Okami out of the car, letting Okami lean on him to get on his feet out of the car.
“Thanks...Yuki...” said Okami as Yuki helped him walk over to his car. Once Yuki got Okami in the passenger seat, Yuki quickly ran to the driver seat and started the engine. He then looked over to Toshiya who was still standing by the wrecked S30.
“Go, I'll take care of this one.” said Toshiya. Yuki replied with a nod and did a 180 with the FD, heading back the wrong way and turned back around at the Ooi JCT. His FD went up the junction and towards the Yokohane line.
Toshiya looked inside the S30 and assessed the damage, the roll bar on the left side was now dangling, having served its purpose. The inside of the car was a total wreck, and the right side looked to be the most recognizable bit of the car. The rear wheels were now pointing inside the car, with the rear suspension broken, leaving the shocks dangling down and the springs shattered. Toshiya then walked over to the engine side and noticed that the engine compartment only took a slight knock on the left side, leaving the engine with minor damage and practically intact. Not wanting to leave this matter to the authorities, he quickly dug into his pocket for his cell phone and dialed a number.
After a few rings, the call came through “Hello?”
“Hello, Yagyuu-san? It's Takahashi, listen, I need a flatbed truck for a wreck.”
“A wreck? Did you crash!?”
“No, it's Kodokuna, a truck got him from behind.”
“Oh dear, is he okay? Where are you right now? I'll bring the truck myself.”
“He's okay, Toji just took him to a hospital. I'm just by Ooi junction, on the southbound Wangan.”
“Alright, I'll be there in fifteen.”
Toshiya walked over to his car and sat on the hood. Was it really worth the risks? This...this can't happen again. We could leave this for another time...but until that time, I'm not gonna drive this car, it's too much.
----Present Day---- ---2300 Hours, Speed Works Toshi---
I vowed never to drive this car until that moment...and I told myself that the next time it would be the last...but somehow, I don't think I could keep that promise to myself. Not when I have unfinished business with Yuki and Okami...not when I haven't reached my goal. Maybe...this car, will just keep on going until it can run no more...maybe that's what I have to do too, when this car dies, then I'll stop racing.
Toshiya pressed the button again and the garage gate slowly closed back down. He walked back to the garage and into the office to find Hana asleep on the desk. She's been through a lot...but I guess I have to help her overcome her fears soon, with what just happened to her. He thought. He gently put a hand and her shoulder and shook her weakly.
Hana groaned as she woke up, looking up at Toshiya with tired eyes. “Come on Hana-chan, I'll take you home now.” he said.
*NOTE: * JCT - Junction IC - Interchange
This post has been edited by Antares on Oct 12 2012, 02:47 AM
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dat memorization of the Shotokou junctions and interchange superb chapter fast paced i could feel my heart racing with Yuki's Rotary then my heart crashed with Okami's Z will the demon supra ride again? even with the events that just passed? can't wait for chapter 6!
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I did some representation of the cars of the characters today and I thought I'd let everyone see it. The game used is Street Supremacy/Shutokou Battle Zone for the PSP.
Takeshi Kajimoto - FD3S
SPOILER
Shinichi Sawaki - BNR32
SPOILER
Ryu Asakura - CP9A
SPOILER
Lia Kusunoki - NCEC (I used an NB8C in here since there's no NCEC available in the game, so its not as close as I imagined it to be)
SPOILER
Toshiya Takahashi - JZA80 (Synchro BLiTZ)
SPOILER
Toshiya Takahashi - JZA80 (Black Scorpion)
SPOILER
Yuki Toji - FD3S
SPOILER
Okami Kodokuna - S30
SPOILER
This post has been edited by Antares on Oct 12 2012, 04:44 AM
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QUOTE (Antares @ 6 hours, 47 minutes ago)
I did some representation of the cars of the characters today and I thought I'd let everyone see it. The game used is Street Supremacy/Shutokou Battle Zone for the PSP.
Takeshi Kajimoto - FD3S
SPOILER
Shinichi Sawaki - BNR32
SPOILER
Ryu Asakura - CP9A
SPOILER
Lia Kusunoki - NCEC (I used an NB8C in here since there's no NCEC available in the game, so its not as close as I imagined it to be)
SPOILER
Toshiya Takahashi - JZA80 (Synchro BLiTZ)
SPOILER
Toshiya Takahashi - JZA80 (Black Scorpion)
SPOILER
Yuki Toji - FD3S
SPOILER
Okami Kodokuna - S30
SPOILER
can you send me a torrent DL of this game? it looks very interesting.
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QUOTE (Gunma's 34 @ 9 minutes, 0 seconds ago)
You used Remotejoy for the screens, didn't you? XD
Actually I had the screenshotbmp.prx plugin installed, used it a lot when I was a part of gtplanet's Weekly Time Attack Challenge for GTPSP.
It only sucks when I want to mute the volume since the snapshot button is assigned to the note button, and the mute just happens when the screenshot's already done...Yup, I'm too lazy to hold down the decrease volume button
[ Post merged on Sep 30 2012, 04:40 AM ]
QUOTE (Solstice @ 46 minutes, 13 seconds ago)
can you send me a torrent DL of this game? it looks very interesting.
Torrent DL? I don't know, just got this game off somewhere around the net, google is your friend there.
This post has been edited by Antares on Sep 30 2012, 04:35 AM
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QUOTE (Gunma's 34 @ 53 minutes, 24 seconds ago)
lol, well there's still print screen. but you'd have to go through the hassle of crop & save XD
Yeah, the only disadvantage the plugin has is that it could take up quite some space on the memory stick if used often, not really helpful if you're aiming to maximize a 4GB space like I do.
[ Post merged on Sep 30 2012, 06:00 AM ] Anyway, an update! Chapter 6 is here, and it's quite long since I'll be having my final exams next week so there definitely won't be an update by then. Next chapter would probably come by the second week of October, that is if I don't get lazy then
As always, please enjoy!
CHAPTER 6 ~ Road Lessons
SPOILER
--1700 Hours, Speed Works Toshi--
Takeshi arrived at the garage the next day and found Toshiya waiting for him. He looked around the shop and saw that the hood of Hana's Z32 was raised up and that his FD was now lowered down on the jacks. Toshiya followed his gaze to the FD and smiled lightly “I've done some settings with the car last night while you were out with Hana and Lia.” he said. “I've done some changes with the engine, and some fine tuning with the suspension based from the notes Hana left. Oh, and I hope you don't mind me placing the team sticker on the windshield.”
Takeshi looked at his FD and couldn't help but feel that it's changed. The exterior is still the same, save for the new sticker, but I really feel like the car just became something else. For some reason, this doesn't feel like my FD at all...and why am I getting excited about it?
“I bet you're curious what's been changed here, eh?” asked Toshiya, inferring his reaction from observing how Takeshi looked at his car intently. The younger man looked at him and nodded in response. Toshiya proceeded to open the hood of the FD, and once he had put up the stand, Takeshi had an idea of what happened. “I think you can see already, I've replaced the sequential twin turbo with a large diameter single turbo, but don't think the car's gonna be a laggy compact rocket.” assured Toshiya “Unlike most high output single turbines, I've somewhat reduced the pressure to give the feeling of a linear boost, so the feeling is somewhat close to a supercharger. Unlike a supercharger though, the power's still there.”
Takeshi looked at Toshiya, who seemed to be enjoying talking about his work “Did you make the power go up, Toshiya-san?” he asked
“Just a bit though, I did a dyno test before working on it and it rated at 450HP. Now it's rating at 520HP, not much in terms of numbers but considering the already lightweight chassis and aluminum frame of the FD3S, I think it's good enough for sprints.” replied Toshiya “Oh and speaking of engine response, I did something with the internals of the engine to help with that.” he said. Takeshi raised his eyebrows questioningly and Toshiya slid out a drawer in the nearby tool cabinet, revealing two identical, helical-shaped metals.
“Are those...engine rotors?” Takeshi easily identified the metals as the rotors used inside a Wankel-Rotary engine.
“Yup, to be exact, these are your old 13B-REW rotors. I swapped them out with a pair of lighter rotors from a 20B I had lying around the shop. The rotors on the 20B are newer in comparison to that of the 13B series in your FD, and gives slightly higher output.” replied Toshiya “With the same effect as full-counter forged crankshafts and pistons on cylinder engines, you should be able to experience better acceleration.”
“Wow, so that's why the car feels like it's become really different.” said Takeshi, he then realized something, the changes made to the car were a bit too much. “But still...I don't get it, Toshiya-san.” he said.
“Hmm?” Toshiya's eyes widened behind his glasses “Is there a problem with the setup?” he asked.
“No, it's not that...I just don't get why you changed so much. It's like you were preparing the car...and me...for something.” replied Takeshi.
Toshiya pushed his glasses up with his right hand before speaking “Well actually, I am preparing for something.” he said. “Apollo Speed have been stalking our area for too long now...look at what happened last night. It was the one thing I didn't want Hana to experience, but they beat me to it. So now, I want to drive them out of our area, out of C1. I want to show them why our team is the fastest around here...and I never wanted to do that so badly as I do right now.” Toshiya was obviously angry, Takeshi felt like blaming himself for what happened.
If I hadn't asked her to drive, then maybe she wouldn't have to go through that. Thought Takeshi, “Toshiya-san...about last night, I-”
“Don't bother, Takeshi-kun.” Toshiya calmly interrupted him “It's not your fault, Hana doesn't blame you either, none of us do.” he said “If last night was anyone's fault it's mine.” Takeshi's eyes widened, hearing Toshiya put himself at fault “If I had just agreed to a race sooner, then maybe they wouldn't have come this far. I was lax, thinking they'd just go off, but I was dead wrong. They were dead serious about taking over, and they'd do anything to get my attention.”
“Lia-chan and the others told me they tried to take you out too.” said Takeshi, remembering what he and the other members talked about in their first encounter. It was the reason why they avoided going along the New Belt Line.
“Yeah, they did, but they never even got close to me back then.” Toshiya said with a hint of pride and amusement. “They were too slow and I just left them behind, I actually thought they'd give up after that.” Toshiya then walked over to Hana's Z32 closed the hood.
“Anyway, how's Hana-san doing? Is she alright?” asked Takeshi. The last he saw of her was when they dropped her off on the garage.
“She's fine, though she was pretty scared with what happened.” replied Toshiya “She told me she'd come by the garage later, though.” he then smiled at Takeshi “I just took this Z out for a ride after I replaced the old CPU log with the one you made, and I gotta say, you've got quite the talent for tuning.” he said. “The power rated at exactly 380HP, but the car felt a lot faster than that. The torque distribution across the whole 8000RPM range was amazingly flat, there's no torque irregularity flat out nor is there lag in engine pickup after shifting. Where did you learn to tune a CPU like that?” asked Toshiya.
“I actually did the computer on my FD for the optimized fuel ratio, making sure the engine doesn't lighten out at varying loads. To be honest, I just experimented a lot on it until I got the feel I wanted.” replied Takeshi “From there on, I just used my previous experiences and eventually understood how engine computers work in my own way.”
“Ah, I see.” said Toshiya “I think I really made the right decision having you here in the garage, Takeshi-kun.”
“Oh no, I'm just glad you offered me a place here, Toshiya-san.” replied Takeshi “I mean bringing me into the team, then the work here in the garage...I think it's too much on your part.” he said.
Toshiya put a hand on Takeshi's shoulder “You don't have to be so humble, Takeshi-kun.” he smiled at him “I believe I told you when we met that I need people of your talent on my team. I can see your potential, and I know it still has a long way to go. You'll become faster with experience.” he said “You're the same as Shinichi-kun and the others, you guys have the ability to become some of the best. I'm just here to help you through that.”
“Thanks, Toshiya-san.” replied Takeshi. He was undoubtedly inspired, having someone so skilled such as Toshiya have so much faith in him. He's amazing, this Toshiya Takahashi. I feel I can do more, I know I was right to follow his lead.
“At any rate, I advise you to get ready for tonight.” began Toshiya “I called everyone up earlier today and arranged for a practice run tonight, since our team shuffle race with ASR is in three days. I want to make sure everyone is at their best at that point.” he said.
“So soon, huh? I guess that's to be expected.” said Takeshi “But a team...shuffle match? I get the feeling it's no ordinary team street race.”
“It's still basically a street race, but compared to the unruly type of racing in the movies, team races here in the Shuto Expressway are serious business. It's an organized system, akin to professional team races, so I think you're gonna like the environment.” began Toshiya, explaining the system to Takeshi as if he was outlining a briefing “Team shuffle races are basically challenges held between two teams, the course would be the areas of both teams as the winning team will take control of the losing team's area.” he said. “If you're wondering how we keep all these statistics in check, word goes around whenever an area changes hands, meaning all teams in the Shutokou area are in a network of sorts.”
“Never knew road racing can be so organized, I've never heard of these things back in Hanshin, back there, it was all just random encounters. You race who you see.” said Takeshi. It was more of a culture shock for him, going from an open-ended sandbox to a professional underground environment.
“When you look at it, it's like you're being trained when you get to that big stage.” said Toshiya “But remember, for professionals raised in the streets, there's always the time when you'll choose whether to take the step to that big stage, or to continue road racing. Right now, it's an easy decision but once your foundations in the street have been laid out, it'll eventually becoming your life-changing choice.” Toshiya smiled at him before he started walking back to the office “I'll be attending to some things for a while, Takeshi-kun, just feel free to wait at the lounge. I'm sure Lia and the others will be here soon.” he said before making his way in.
Takeshi shifted his attention to his FD. You've changed quite a bit, but I hope you'll still let me drive you like the way I did before. You've become faster, I'm sure of it...and I can't wait to see just how much better it's gonna be for us. He then thought about Toshiya's words to him Right now my goal is to become a professional driver, and to become better in the highways along the way...but if what Toshiya-san was saying is true, then that means I have to prepare myself for that moment. He made his way up the stairs and into the lounge, where he was greeted by the cool temperature of a dark room. His hand crept along the walls beside the door and eventually found the light switch that lit the whole room. Closing the door as he went in, he then made himself comfortable settling on the sofa. A practice session for the team shuffle race...I guess I can use a little nap to get me going later. Takeshi closed his eyes and slowly drifted to sleep.
--1900 Hours, Synchro BLiTZ Lounge, Speed Works Toshi--
Takeshi was woken up by the feeling of someone pushing down on his shoulders. His head was hung low as he opened his eyes, he quickly looked side-to-side and saw that a pair of hands were pushing down on his shoulders, he looked up to see who it belonged to and was met by deep crystal blue eyes and strands of strawberry blonde hair. He immediately recognized who it was “Lia-chan!?”
Lia pulled her arms away from Takeshi's shoulders and laughed “Do you really like sleeping here that much?” she asked.
Takeshi stood up from the sofa and faced her “What can I do? It's not like I've got anything else to do in here.” he replied. He looked at her and took note of a slight change in her appearance, she had her hair tied up in a ponytail. She was wearing a light pink track jacket with white stripes from the shoulders down the sleeves, matching track pants and blue sneakers. “Did you just come from the gym or something?” he asked.
“Nope, it's just Toshiya-san told me we're gonna be driving all night so I thought it'd be best for me to feel really comfortable.” replied Lia, who then looked at Takeshi's appearance “Speaking of which, you're looking quite good yourself.” she said. Takeshi looked over himself, he was wearing a sky blue short-sleeved buttoned shirt, gray pants and blue sneakers.
Ryu, who was watching the two from his seat in the mini-bar cleared his throat “Excuse me if I'm interrupting anything.” he said, a suggestive smile present on his lips. “The early bird once again, eh Toshiya-san?” he raised his glass of water to Takeshi. Unlike Lia though, Ryu did look like someone who came from work, as he was wearing a white dress shirt tucked inside his black pants and matching black leather shoes.
“When this place is my office, I don't see any reason not to be early.” Takeshi replied. Then he noticed, the lounge wasn't quite lively enough, they were a head short. “Where's Shinichi-san? It's strange seeing Ryu-san here without him.” he asked.
Ryu just shrugged “I think Shin-kun's on carriage duty for the princess.” he replied.
Lia shot him an amazed look “Is he now? I wonder how the king's gonna feel about that when he sees them together.” she said.
Takeshi, oblivious to what was being talked about, tried to get in the know. “What exactly is Shinichi-san doing, guys?” he asked.
Ryu looked at Takeshi and realized he didn't know what he and Lia were referring to “Oh right, you didn't know. Shinichi's supposed to fetch Hana from her university this afternoon, then take her out to dinner before going here.” he said “Or so he said he would.”
“So...that means he's taking Hana-san out on a date?” asked Takeshi.
“Quite, but I don't remember him calling it like that.” began Lia “I think he was pretty worried when he heard about what happened with us last night.”
“Yeah, but we haven't got an idea about how Toshiya-senpai would react to it, though.” said Ryu “I'm really interested to see how that's gonna play ou...oh look who's here!” his enthusiastic tone got Lia and Takeshi to hurry towards him to see what was up. When they all looked at the CCTV feed, they saw Shinichi's R32 drive inside the garage. They looked at each other and nodded, before they all hurried out of the lounge and down the garage. “This is something we need to see for ourselves.” said Ryu.
The sounds of feet rushing down the metallic stairs reached inside the office, prompting Toshiya to see what was going on. “Hey, what the hell's happening!?” he called out as he peeked out of the office door when he saw Takeshi and the others running down the stairs and outside the garage. They all suddenly stopped when they heard Toshiya's voice.
Lia slowly turned back and scratched her head, laughing nervously. “Eh..hehehe, we were just umm...” she was discreetly nudging Takeshi, who was behind her, getting him to come up with an excuse because she couldn't think of any.
Takeshi threw Lia a bewildered look for a moment before turning back to Toshiya “They just wanted to see the FD's engine, Toshiya-san. Ehehehe.” he said
Toshiya rolled his eyes at them before shaking his head as he closed the door. Thankfully, the blinds in the office were down so Toshiya couldn't see Shinichi's GT-R pull up outside. The others then watched from behind the closed garage gate and saw the headlights on the R32 go out. They immediately looked for a hidden vantage point, looking around the shop before settling for ducking behind Hana's Z32, which was luckily down from the jacks. A few seconds later they heard Shinichi talking with Hana.
“So he really did go for being the magical carriage for Cinderella.” whispered Ryu as he heard their voices. Lia then hushed him as they began to eavesdrop on the pair.
“Thanks for dinner, Shin-chan.” came Hana's voice, and she sounded pretty happy “It was awfully nice for you to pick me up from uni and treat me to dinner.” She was dressed in a yellow t-shirt, blue knee length jeans and brown sandals.
“Don't mention it, Hana-chan.” then came Shinichi's voice, it was a bit strange since he sounded gentlemanly, unlike his usual hyper self. “After what happened last night with you, Takeshi-san and Lia-san, it must have been pretty hard.” He was obviously prepared for a dinner date, as he was wearing a black short sleeved dress-shirt, black jeans and matching black sneakers.
“Yeah it was, and I'm really glad I got to talk to you about it, I didn't really know what I was gonna do.” replied Hana, she was still shaken, but not as tense as she was the night before.
“I really felt bad about not being there, though. I don't think they would've even thought about doing it if there weren't only two cars.” said Shinichi, noticeably upset about what happened.
“It's not your fault, Shin-chan, please don't feel bad.” said Hana “I'm alright now, and you've really helped me get over it somehow, because I couldn't actually sleep well last night thinking about it.” her voice trailed off, as if she stopped to recall something. “I should go see Toshi-niichan now, thanks for tonight though, I really enjoyed it.”
“Til next time, then?” asked Shinichi
“Of course, I'd be happy to.” replied Hana before the sound of an opening door could be heard “Toshi-niichan, I'm here!” her greeting was barely heard as the door closed behind her.
Ryu, who was ducked just beside the Z's door peeked through the car's window and saw Shinichi just standing there, spaced out.
“Hey, what do you think's happened?” Lia asked in a low whisper as she observed Shinichi, he wasn't moving a single step.
“I think he just hit cloud nine.” replied Takeshi “Anyway, can we go now? This position's pretty uncomfortable!” he spat in a low voice
“How are we supposed to get out of here without him noticing?” said Lia
“I have an idea, but I need you two to roll smooth on this.” said Ryu before he started to explain his plan. The other two nodded in agreement and after a few moments, Ryu started. “Am I the only one who thinks that this set of CE28's are a bit too big for the Z32?” he said, loud enough to hopefully get Shinichi's attention.
“I don't think so, the tire itself isn't too wide and thick, but I think this may be troublesome when driving on uneven surfaces.” replied Lia.
“I think it's just right, seeing as how Hana-san did the suspension work on the car herself, she's sure to have considered that scenario.” came Takeshi. The plan was to not appear suspicious to Shinichi by pretending that they were checking out Hana's Z when they went in.
“I see, and it would quite make sense, the car has less than 400HP, after all. The speeds this car would go wouldn't generate enough stress to---oh, hi there Shinichi!” Ryu called out to Shinichi to complete the act.
“Huh?” Shinichi snapped out from his trance and looked to his right, where he saw Ryu, Takeshi and Lia beside Hana's Z32. “Oh senpai, it's you guys.” but then he realized something “Hey, how long were you guys there?” he asked, his tone hinting at unease.
“I'm not really sure, but we've been here long enough.” replied Ryu, who turned his attention back to the Z before Shinichi could inquire further “Anyway, these brakes are really good, too good for a car with just that much power.” he said.
“Yeah, for the highways this would seem too much, but Hana-san raced the touge roads before right? That must be the reason for why the brakes are so good.” said Takeshi, going along with the plan.
“So...did you guys hear it?” asked a nervous Shinichi
“Hear what, Shin-chan?” asked Lia, keeping a great oblivious act
“You know...me and—nevermind! I'll be up in the lounge if you guys need me.” Shinichi then started to make his way up the lounge. Once he disappeared from view, the group looked at each other and just shook their heads.
“You think he's onto us?” asked Takeshi, judging by how Shinichi ran off he had quite the point.
Ryu shrugged and smiled “I don't think so, and even if he was, I'm not sure he could get mad at us anymore.” he said.
“At least Hana-chan's felt better now, that's all I want to see.” said Lia, like Takeshi, she felt guilty for what happened last night. Even though Toshiya understood what really happened, she had taken responsibility for watching Hana that night and she didn't even notice the cars of ASR when they were just lying in wait.
“So what are we gonna do next? Just go up there and pretend we heard nothing?” asked Takeshi with a hint of mischief.
“What else? Just make sure we keep this little thing between the three of us, understand?” replied Ryu, who started to walk back up to the lounge.
“Understood, senpai.” said Lia, she then dragged Takeshi's arm as she started to walk towards the stairs leading up to the garage. “Come on, slowpoke.” she said.
“Ow, ow, ow, don't pull so hard, I'm going!” said Takeshi as he was being pulled by Lia, who had hit quite the stride dragging him along.
--2200 Hours, Shiba PA, C1--
Tonight, Synchro BLiTZ was gathered in the Shibaura Parking Area. The team was in complete attendance, as one row was lined up with Toshiya's Supra, Ryu's Evo, Shinichi's GT-R, Lia's MX5 and Takeshi's Skyline. Surprisingly, Toshiya had allowed Hana to come along, since she insisted she wanted to finally overcome her fear of traffic at high speed. Shinichi couldn't be happier.
Lia nudged Takeshi's arm when she saw Shinichi staring at Toshiya and Hana talking “Hey, look at him, he's spacing out again.” she said to him.
“I'm not surprised, but I didn't know he liked her that much.” said Takeshi, who watched the dreamer as well.
“Could say the same for the both of you.” The pair were surprised when they heard Ryu speak from behind them, making them jump a bit. Ryu laughed at their reaction.
Lia shot him an angry glare “That ain't funny, Ryu-senpai.” she said in a serious tone.
“Oh don't give me that, you two have been pretty close ever since you met.” replied Ryu, who turned his attention away from the glaring girl and towards Takeshi, giving him a pat on the shoulder and a wink. “You got yourself quite the score here.” he whispered.
“Ryu-san, that's not how it is!” retorted Takeshi, dumbstruck at Ryu's blatant teasing.
Ryu again laughed at the pair's outraged reactions and started walking to the kiosk where the vendos were. “I dare you to tell me that again in three months!” he said.
A few minutes later, Toshiya called everyone around his Supra. He was about to announce their plans for tonight's practice sessions. He first did a head count and once he confirmed everyone, he started “Alright, so tonight we're not gonna be running in a group as we used to.” this got everyone's attention, especially Takeshi, since this was his first team gathering as a member of Synchro BLiTZ. “Instead, we're gonna be doing individual time attacks.” he said.
“Wow, so we take turns going around the Circular Line then?” asked Shinichi, who was pretty enthusiastic about driving, or rather, making an impression for Hana.
“Yeah, but we only do it in one direction to gauge ourselves easier.” replied Toshiya “And since we are at Shibaura, I think it's better for us to do the outer loop.” he added.
“Outer loop? Is that another part of C1?” asked Takeshi
“Remember the route we took two days ago? That was the Inner Circular Loop.” began Ryu “The Outer Circular Loop, or C1 Outer is the reverse of that route.” Takeshi nodded in response.
“The results of tonight's time attacks will determine the match rota for the race against ASR in two days.” said Toshiya “But since Takeshi-kun here doesn't exactly know the loop in-and-out, he'll be the last to run tonight.” he then walked towards the driver side of the Supra and gestured for Takeshi to get in the passenger side. “Come on, I'll take you around for a lap to get you settled in.” he said.
Takeshi quickly got into the passenger seat of the Supra and strapped himself in. He looked around the dashboard and saw the boost controller mounted on the center console, it read 1.7 bar. When he looked at Toshiya though, he didn't sense any of the usual aura-like feeling around him, but rather, Toshiya was cool at the moment. A lap around the outer loop, I guess he's not planning to go fast at all, since he's just taking me around for a tour.
The Supra drove off the Shiba PA and onto the Circular Loop. Once they hit the highway proper, Toshiya accelerated to 4th gear at about 200km/h, traffic was clear coming up to the long right under the Ichino Bridge JCT followed by a slightly tighter right passing by Iikura IC and into the tunnel. Surprisingly, traffic was still clear and Toshiya quickly got the Supra to reach 240km/h before slowing down to below 200km/h and down to 3rd gear just before the sweeping right leading to the Tanicho JCT.
Wow, he's still holding back and he gets the car up to this speed? How is he able to control this heavyweight machine? Anyway, it seems the road is nearly the same as the Inner Loop, although I can feel this course is faster.
Takeshi had no time to blink though, the car was reaching speeds of over 250km/h as they entered the tunnel towards the Kasumigaseki IC. Traffic was now present inside the tunnel and Toshiya gently eased off the throttle, weaving around traffic at just above 200km/h at 4th gear. He was preventing unnecessary wheelspin at increasing G corners by not immediately shifting down.
As they reached the Kasumigaseki IC entrance to C1 and onto Miyakesaka JCT, Toshiya kept his speed between the 200 and 240km/h marks as they navigated through the long right bending tunnel, dodging traffic on about two occassions. As traffic cleared up on the long straight leading up to the Miyakesaka JCT entrance to C1, Takeshi was sure he had seen the car hit above 260km/h on the digital speedometer in the center console before it slowed down for the tight right-hander at the tunnel exit.
To be able to push the car to that extent and slow down exactly the right points, he definitely has this place marked in. I better remember to keep my foot down in this place later.
The Supra went past the Daikan IC at moderate speeds, Toshiya was feathering the throttle, being cautious of any unseen traffic because of the fast, blind left coming in to the tunnel. It paid off as a truck on the left lane suddenly came into view as they entered the tunnel, with minute steering movements, Toshiya evaded the truck and accelerated out of the tunnel.
If I were to guess, he actually expected a truck to come out of that side...or was he just being cautious? That tunnel went past like it was nothing though, the Outer C1 is definitely faster.
A long, uphill sloped straight was ahead, and Toshiya went on full throttle, even managing to hit 280km/h before the peak where he slowed down just enough to avoid taking a huge jump. The car only hopped a bit, and was able to clear the following blind right-hander at just below 200km/h. Takeshi then noticed the Supra going faster as they went along a downhill sloped road, Toshiya was on full throttle, carefully keeping on the left lane when all visible traffic was focused on the right.
260...280...300! Man, this car's got so much power...at 1.7 bar it easily climbed go to 300km/h, just how much power does this car have? And that blind right, I won't be able to attack this one right away, better be careful around here later.
They reached the Kanda Bridge, where the banked curves were. Toshiya simply went through the curves at 200km/h, going past the Kanda Bridge JCT and onto the fast curves leading up to Gofuku Bridge, this was a section new to Takeshi, as they didn't go past this during their run. Taking it easy at the Edo Bridge JCT, they eventually reached the fastest part of C1.
Toshiya was on full attack, as the car took on the dividers past Kyo Bridge at over 200km/h sending his into a slight drift past the first set of dividers and going full throttle past Kiyomi IC and onto the second set of dividers, nearly brushing the center wall by mere inches. He took the S-curves by the Ginza IC with a smooth drift, going with a confident transition as no traffic was present in the area.
Continuing his full attack until they reached the wide roads of Shiodome JCT, Takeshi noticed that Toshiya was seriously attacking, but somehow he didn't feel any aura, there wasn't a trace of it even. Once they went right at Hamasaki JCT, Toshiya was relaxed, slowly accelerating the car to about 200km/h and keeping it there along the straight and once Tokyo Tower was in view, gently decelerated as they came back down to the Shibaura PA.
If there's any word to describe that run...it was mysterious. I didn't feel any intent to go all-out at the start, but when we reached that fast junction...past Edo Bridge, I think, he was on full-attack. It was the only place where he even attempted to drift, where he just kept the car at grip in the earlier sections. Needless to say though, I had quite the ride, and I got most of the road remembered, mostly because there was no traffic to even worry about.
“What was the time?” Toshiya asked Hana as he got out of the car.
“From the time you left the PA until you went past Hamasaki...4'59.6” replied Hana, who was looking at her laptop.
“That's 4 seconds off my record, eh, good enough.” said Toshiya, he then turned his attention to the others “Guys, target time would be 5 minutes flat, so make sure you attack out there, I'd want everyone to be in form when we finally take out ASR.” Everyone nodded in agreement, and when Toshiya looked at Shinichi, he knew what to do.
Shinichi immediately got into his car and quickly drove off from the PA. “He's about to do one of those killer laps again, huh?” said Ryu.
“Probably, he's fired up tonight, who knows how fast he'll clock today.” added Lia. The two seem to expect a lot out of Shinichi's run.
“I'm betting a 4'57.” replied Ryu “That guys pretty fast here on the outer loop, especially since there doesn't seem to be much traffic.” he added
Shinichi-san's run huh? I've heard from Ryu-san that he's really fast around here, this lap's something to look forward to, I'm gonna need something to aim for. Thought Takeshi. The roars of the GT-R's RB26 engine echoed across the whole area as Shinichi went on full throttle upon exiting the PA and onto his time attack run.
--To be continued
This post has been edited by Antares on Oct 12 2012, 02:47 AM
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Antares, please do help me from NOT MAKING MY PSP LAG when I use remotejoy. Playback, recording or just playing from my pc/laptop screen, it lags hard; and same applies when I look at my screen as well. :V
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QUOTE (Gunma's 34 @ 6 hours, 57 minutes ago)
Antares, please do help me from NOT MAKING MY PSP LAG when I use remotejoy. Playback, recording or just playing from my pc/laptop screen, it lags hard; and same applies when I look at my screen as well. :V
Does remotejoy lag or does the PSP itself lag? Try setting the clock speed on the PSP to 333/133Mhz, or play around with the settings on Remotejoy, I'm sure there are options on it there..I'd try and play around with my Remotejoy to help you better, but it doesn't work right now since my video card went bust.
These are the settings I recall using in Remotejoy though:
On the PSP tab in the Remotejoy Lite settings (right click while in RJL) Transfer Type --- Type 1 Trasfer sys address --- leave it default Trasfer sys address (PSP-2000) --- I don't know the difference but leave it default Thread priority - set it anywhere between 30-40, higher numbers can cause glitches Thread FPS - 30fps
This is how the game would look like with those settings
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I'm on chapter 2 now, great start. Though *coughs* let me have a go on the critiquing...
It's kinda awkward, don't you think, knowing that Takeshi is not that knowledgable about the whole Shutoku area; even with the help of Ryu, Shinichi & Lia, but don't you think he's going a bit reckless? I mean, yeah I saw him fall over his performance at the Shinjyuku JCT at Kasumigaseki tunnel of the inner loop, but before that as well. SO, does Takeshi have like some sort of photographic memory or something to understand the route from Ginza to Edobashi JCT, past Kandabashi-ramp and onto C1 without prior understanding of the road conditions and the like?
And also, IIRC, (correct me if I'm wrong), Street Supremacy has a modified stock aero of the JZA80, why not use that than the TRD3000GT aero kit that it has on the pic you posted? RIDOX Supra's front is more or less close to the stock aero with a slightly modified front lip, not bumper. Just a hint of thought; you got the GT wing right though.
Anyways, great start. I'll keep reading until the latest chapter and by your descriptions, it's relatively easy enough for me to picture the characters in my head.
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QUOTE (Gunma's 34 @ 8 minutes, 49 seconds ago)
I'm on chapter 2 now, great start. Though *coughs* let me have a go on the critiquing...
It's kinda awkward, don't you think, knowing that Takeshi is not that knowledgable about the whole Shutoku area; even with the help of Ryu, Shinichi & Lia, but don't you think he's going a bit reckless? I mean, yeah I saw him fall over his performance at the Shinjyuku JCT at Kasumigaseki tunnel of the inner loop, but before that as well. SO, does Takeshi have like some sort of photographic memory or something to understand the route from Ginza to Edobashi JCT, past Kandabashi-ramp and onto C1 without prior understanding of the road conditions and the like?
And also, IIRC, (correct me if I'm wrong), Street Supremacy has a modified stock aero of the JZA80, why not use that than the TRD3000GT aero kit that it has on the pic you posted? RIDOX Supra's front is more or less close to the stock aero with a slightly modified front lip, not bumper. Just a hint of thought; you got the GT wing right though.
Anyways, great start. I'll keep reading until the latest chapter and by your descriptions, it's relatively easy enough for me to picture the characters in my head.
It's just as you said actually, he has quite the photographic memory. I think to forgot to mention this on the first chapter though, Takeshi used to race on the Hanshin Expressway on Osaka before coming to Tokyo, and he kind of has a natural talent for racing. Currently, he would lose out to practically anyone on the team based on familiarity with the courses alone, but he'll learn fast, that's for sure.
As for the pics, did you mean Aero No. 6, where the wheels gets larger and on some cars include a roll cage inside? I didn't really think of it that way when I did it, probably because it was on a whim I'm definitely gonna consider that option though based on your observation, and update the car photo if it's good enough.
Thanks for the comments, really appreciate them.
This post has been edited by Antares on Oct 3 2012, 06:47 PM
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You can reference Hiei's Supra on Episode 10 part 2 go straight to 08:30 to know what I mean; I don't have that much of other scenes involving Hiei's Supra on that level of close-up but that'll suffice I guess. That's the front bumper you want. I can't recall if Street Supremacy has it still though. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=smK8lv8_tSg
The closest non-canon Genki reference I could give is from WMMT - the front bumper of Aero A, a wider / modified version of Aero A.
[ Post merged on Oct 3 2012, 07:59 PM ] Chapter 3:
*the moment where Takeshi mentions that he's interested in working at a family restaurant then given an offer to work at the tuning shop*
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I'm definitely gonna consider that option though based on your observation, and update the car photo if it's good enough. 