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Hello to everyone.

...alright actually, it's just me here for now, but anyway...before anything else, introduction!

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アクセルコード - Accel Code

Story Sypnosis

The story is basically about the main protagonist, Saburo Misaka, someone who doesn't really care much about anything, but he was eager to see something happen on the world of racing and apparently even he was bored by the dullness of street racers sitting on their comfort zone and not wanting to challenge each other openly.

Things weren't changing much until he has decided that he may want to try and give a shot at an open challenge towards a driver in his own local area one day, and that alone has triggered multiple chains of events that would very well shake the whole community of street-racing for a long period of time.

Accompanied by him in the street-racing activity is the young, feisty mechanic, Sakuya Ishiyama whom has a history of tuning extreme machines, and together they were off to see how far their little racing tale could go from a tiny scale onwards slowly to something bigger in future.

Meanwhile, on the other hand, Vanessa Anderrson - a young petite girl from Stockholm transferred to live in the Saitama Prefecture in hopes of living a steady life with her aunt had also drawn her involuntarily to the world of mountain racing as she was eager to try out the car that was left by her parents. Her encounters in future will also lead her to befriend the duo on the way, along with making many new friends as she slowly blends in with the lifestyle on Japan.

Countless challenges awaits them in future ranging from amateur street racing all the way to professional closed-track races, and how far would they be able to go?

The Main Characters

SPOILER

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Misaka Saburo - 御坂 三郎 (Protagonist - RPS13)

SPOILER

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Sakuya Ishiyama - 石山 桜也 (Deuteragonist - JZA80)

SPOILER

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Vanessa Anderrson - ヴァネッサ·アンダーソン (Tritagonist - R26.R)

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Now without further delay, let's start with a prologue first!

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Code Ø: One-Eighty

Moonlight. It was a cool silent night at the winding roads of Happogahara mountain pass near the Tochigi Prefecture. And on the inbound path of the narrow road, there was a blue car cruising down the mildly bad conditioned asphalt route of the area. It was a clear night, and the moon shone brightly, helping in illuminating the twisty paths for the driver to navigate safely. The car was a Mazda, and it was drifting through a few curves along the way before entering a short straight path.

It carries a Tochigi license tag and it writes 12-54 on it. The Mazda was a Roadster NA6CE with bronze Speed Stars rims and it seems to be equipped with high-grip tyres. The driver siting on the red Recaro racing seat was a man clad in red jacket and black shirt. He has blonde-hair and brown eyes and his jaw has a fair amount of scruffiness on it.

“Well just great...another boring cruise tonight...all by myself. I doubt any racer would show up at this time though...” The driver thought in his mind, knowing that there are no drivers sane enough to drive casually at such a late night. It was 11:36 PM shown on his car’s digital clock.

As the blue Roadster drifted through a twisty curve again that went pass a checkpoint line that is painted on the tarmac, after a few seconds of silence...

All of a sudden there is another ray of light appearing from behind and there is another engine roar echoing through the road.

Returning back to the Roadster, the driver stomped on the brakes as he approaches a sharp hairpin on the left and steers hard. Engaging back to first gear, he releases the clutch gently and slowly accelerates again before coming to another hairpin on the left, he decelerates and hit on the brakes again. As he exit through the hairpin, the Roadster hugs the tarmac slowly and went to the outer lane, almost 25 centimeters of range between the car and the guardrail on that side.

But after a few seconds where the Roadster went through the hairpins, the mysterious light behind the Mazda blitzed through the hairpins with loud squeals of the rubber burning too. And not long after, the machine finally reveals itself to be a flip-up headlight Nissan. It was a black Nissan 180SX and it carries a Tochigi prefecture license tag with the number 95-64 on it. It also equips a set of bronze-coated Advan Racing RZ rims.

The Nissan was pushing it hard as flames are coming out if its tailpipe, condition wise, the front end of the 180 was rather beaten up, as there were dents everywhere and seems to have a replaced bonnet of the same model. One glimpse and it can easily be told that the car is anything but new or clean. Still, despite the scars, the Nissan remained steady and climbing its way towards the leading Mazda on the front, after passing two more consecutive corners and made its way to a hairpin leading to the right side.

As the Roadster drifts its way around 55 to 60 km/h on second gear, the car stalls a bit but the driver wishes to play it safe as he wasn’t time-attacking. As it went on the outer-lane after the successful exit from that U-turn, the Nissan finally shows up right behind him, within 200 meters now as a tiny speck of white light behind the Mazda Roadster’s rear-view. The driver notices that little flash behind him and was slightly surprised by it.

Judging from the sounds, he can definitely tell it’s a car coming from behind.

“What...? I thought I was alone, but I guess I spoke too soon...” The driver thought quietly. He then decides to step it on a notch and pressed on the gas pedal to increase his pace before he went into the tunnel that will lead him to the left-side hairpin. As he enters through that tunnel, he slams on the brakes, pulled a heel-and-toe on the pedals and steered hard on the steering wheel. The Roadster drifts its way onto the hairpin at the speed of a steady 70 km/h while maintaining at second gear and he is certain that the speck behind him would vanish at this point since even he knows not a lot of regular drivers could enter the speed around his range, unless they’re street racers too.

But as the Mazda cruised through the second hairpin, the 180 is already gaining ground slowly. The driver inside the car was a mysterious young man wearing a gray t-shirt. He gently engages the gear shift down to first gear and feathered on the gas pedal as he made his way towards the first hairpin. It was a grip-oriented maneuver as there’s barely any sliding on the rear tires. Then as he made his way towards the second hairpin to the right, he feathered on the gas pedal again and steered hard, the black Nissan hugged the inside of the lane steadily before making it all the way on the outside lane, missing the guardrail by a good 5 centimeter.

Back to the Mazda’s view, the blonde driver noticed that the speck of light has grown bigger by a great deal and the sound of the engine was very loud behind him. He realized that the car behind him is gaining ground and is slowly breathing down on his neck...

“That’s just two hairpins! Don’t tell me that guy’s already gaining this much ground? I am not holding back here, man!” The Mazda driver panicked. But slowly he took a deep breath before he calmed down and tightened his hold on his steering wheel.

“That’s right, don’t need to panic...the guy must be lucky just now...! That engine sound...it might be a GTR...” He thought. But even he he glanced back at the rear-view mirror for a second, he still couldn’t quite see the car because of the bright headlights. Between him and the mysterious 180, the gap was at least 80 meters. The black car continued to accelerate forward while the Roadster continued to escape from its chaser as they made their way through the long straight before the two curves that leads them towards another long straight path.

Both cars plowed through the double curves at a fair-speed of 90 km/h, but the 180 seemed to have taken a more risky lane. Its cornering angle was so deep inside the ideal lining range that it almost grazed the inner lane’s guardrail. The 180’s tires caught up some dirt along the way, but it didn’t faze its motion at all as the driver remained steady and calm with his judgment on the traditional out-in-out driving point.

As they continued on to the straight lane that lead to the four-snake hairpins, the Roadster braked hard and entered its first tight hairpin. The Mazda turned hard on its left as it went through the outer lane of the exit in preparation for the second hairpin on the right.

The 180 followed from behind, as it hugged the hairpin on a sharper angle compared to the Roadster, it gained more ground on the Roadster and it’s already 30 meters behind the leading Mazda on its way to the second hairpin.

The driver inside the Mazda has decided that he won’t look back at the mirror as it could very well distract him, but he can definitely tell that the Nissan is dangerously close behind him and it’s climbing steadily. If he didn’t think of something fast to counter the constant attack from the rear, he will be in big trouble. He can feel his palms and side cheeks all sweaty...the pressure is getting on to him slowly...

“The guy’s climbing to my head...dammit!” The blonde driver thought in panic. “I don’t know what the guy’s driving, but he’s breathing down to my neck...!”

“...”

The driver inside the black Nissan remained calm as they made pass the third hairpin. As both of them slammed on the brakes and slide through the hairpin’s outer lane to the inner part, the Roadster is showing signs of tire wear on its end as the rear is starting to slide slowly outside from its usual angle and even wobbled slightly, while the black 180 is still somewhat steady in its drift cornering. The driver inside the black Nissan can tell the blue Mazda is losing grip on its rear tires.
As the Roadster inevitably swerve to the outside enough for a car to pass through on the inner lane...

The 180 took its chance and went through the opening, passing the Mazda smoothly and brake hard on the final hairpin towards the left side.

“Oh crap!” The driver in the Mazda couldn’t do anything but watch as the car passes him and as he examined the car...he couldn’t believe that the black Nissan was banged up and seemed so dirty and...unlike anything he expected to be for a machine capable of keeping up with his new-looking Mazda Roadster. “A 180SX? Pretty banged up one too...who’s that guy?”

The Mazda driver couldn’t see the one inside the 180SX, but it is confirmed that he has met someone with great skills. The overtake was smooth, clean and doesn’t seemed rushed in anyway. But he wasn’t about to give it up just yet...

“You’re pretty good, whoever you are...but this is far from over!”

“...”

The black Nissan driver remained calm and silent, like a cold piece of machine operating, he is drawn out of his attention on anything that would otherwise distract him from his objective. The driver is a brown-haired young man with heterochromatic eyes of brown and red. He also wears a rather cold expression, but it is impossible to judge on how he is feeling on the race.

But one thing is for certain, he is now freed from an obstacle and it’s only a matter of perseverance in his concentration and determination to get a job done.

As they reached to the curve at the end of the straight after they passed the four-snake-hairpins, the black Nissan decelerate and hugged the inner curve on the left-side corner and came out of the exit gently, but due to its speed on the entry was slightly faster than intended, the car swerved outside a bit more than intended.

The 180 tapped on the outer-lane’s guardrail for a bit of a good measure before maintaining its usual lining.

As the driver saw the next sharp but wide turn incoming to the right side, he braked for a half-second before he feathered on his gas pedal and steered hard. The 180 responds quickly and hugged on the inner lane once it made its way to the outer line for a good measure. The 180 almost grazed the guardrail on the inside as it came out of the exit again with a smooth out-in-out maneuvering.

The Nissan cleared the consecutive sharp turns and accelerated away before it plowed through the gentle curve on the left side again at the speed of 110 km/h, only to get followed by the Roadster from behind.

But from the looks of it, the Mazda seemed to have given up on a desperate chase as the driver is no longer flooring it...

Their distance gap has widened so much that the Nissan 180SX is almost but a pair of dim red lights in front of the mirrors of the blue Mazda...

“.....no way...!” The Mazda driver thought in shock. Everything was happening so quickly, yet it seemed anything but unusual, as he realize his car’s tires are failing him, he cannot go any faster. From how the Nissan caught up to him just now all the way to how he overtook him and left him behind, it was all so ordinarily happened, that he rather cannot believe just how normal everything was.

As he pondered on, the black Nissan accelerated more and pulled away further and further. After clearing a few more gentle consecutive curves across the twisty and bumpy asphalt of Happogahara, the Nissan finally disappears into the night.

Back to the Roadster, the driver finally gave up and parked his car on the side of the road and flashed on its hazard lights. As he got out from the car’s driver seat, the man gazed upon the darkness on the tarmac ahead of him. The driver was already gone, but the impact left by him during the sudden overtake has left quite a mark on his mind.

“I never knew anyone that can drive like that...other than the locals...! And of all things, he drove a banged-up 180 and still can go that fast...he sure is something, whoever he is.” The man thought out loud as he grabbed a small box of cigarettes out from his shirt and took a bite on one of them and hangs it on his mouth as he reached for his other pocket and find a lighter to lit the cigar up.

He took a small puff on the weed and exhaled a mouthful of smokes, before wiping off some sweat on his forehead with a handkerchief.

“...I wonder if he’ll show up again on this pass? To be bested by a car as dented as that Nissan and in such a simple way; I guess I still have some catching up to do..might as well report back to the team for what happened tonight. We may still have some rivals to deal with after all...! Humph...” The driver mumbled as he took another puff from his cigar and stared at the night skies. The moon lit up the scene beautifully as the breeze accompanied the landscape across the mountain pass...

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Back to the 180, at this point, it already reached to the end of the mountain pass and it’s parked on the nearest PA field nearby a small shop that sells some snacks and other minor utilities. They even sell a few spare tires for tourists or drivers that are practicing on the Happogahara pass. There were many different brands, such as Potenza, Michelin and Goodyear.

The driver was inside the shop and he is speaking to the owner in search of something.

“Oh, it’s you, Misaka! How have you been?” The chubby shopkeeper asked with a big grin. He carried a big blue steel-box that seemed to be tools for a garage as it was packed to the brim with nuts, bolts, screwdrivers, wrenches and even a cross-wheel wrench. He closed the box and passed it to the driver.

“...been better, Mr. Onizuka.” Misaka sighed with a rather irritated expression. He doesn’t seem to be pleased with carrying such a heavy box of tools around him, but nonetheless he does it anyway. “I swear...this is the last time I do delivery for Sakuya...she’s always so forgetful when it comes to buying parts and I have to clean up after her.”

“Don’t fret. That’s how some hardworking mechanics are, really.” Onizuka chuckled. “Sometimes they can be so busy that they tend to let their scatterbrain-side take over once in a while.”

“She could use some basic responsibility if you ask my opinion...anyway, no extra charges on the spare tire I hope?” Misaka asked, looking dull still.

“Nah, you can keep it. You’re still my old customer, regardless of everything else.” Onizuka replied with an eyebrow raised.

“Hmm, thanks then.”

“Anytime, kiddo. By the way...” Onizuka turned his attention to the black 180 outside his shop. “...thought of fixing that front bonnet of your car yet, kid?”
“When I feel like it.” Misaka answered simply.

“Heh...boy, I bet it’ll be embarrassing if a sucker tries to fish you up just because your car looks like a junker. Also, if you want to; I can recommend some great-pay part-time job to earn some cash, if you’re not furthering your studies at college or universities that is...”

“...”

Misaka had no comment about that remark. He wasn’t even certain if that’s the case at all in general. Back in his days, the car was all he could get when his parents left him to live alone due to his independence and their overseas business have taken priority over the family. Much as he doesn’t have much to complain about, he has to admit; it may really be the time now to get a proper job and get some money to take care of the car that his parents left for him since two years ago when he finally got his driving license.

“Appreciate it. But maybe next time.” Misaka insisted as he turns around and walked outside the shop. Once he puts the tools on the passenger seat, his brown long pants vibrated a bit on his left pocket. He reached for the mobile phone inside it. The phone was a black Motorola Razr MAXX, and it was playing a ringtone of powerful rock guitar solo that seemed like something out of the classical Iron Maiden band.

“Oh dear...” Misaka sighed as he turned down the phone’s volume back from 80% to 50% due to the loud guitar riff tone. One look at the screen and he knows it’s Sakuya Ishiyama that called him. He answered the phone and placed it on his ear. “Hey, Sakuya...couldn’t you at least--”

“HEY, PRINCE!! HAVE YOU GOT WHAT I WANTED?!” A loud, tomboyish female voice boomed out of the speakers on Misaka’s phone as it flinched him a little back. Misaka groaned in anger as he clears the wax out of his ears and slowly put back on the phone.

“...yes, Sakuya. Look, don’t make me do this all the time, alright? I can’t always go out there and fetch what you forgot to buy...especially not on such a late night. The next time you ask me do this again, I am gonna toss whatever I have fetched from your shop back to your face.”

“Okay, okay, I am sorry!! But please, I am kinda busy here with my Ford Granada, so just bear with me on this one, okay? Pretty please?!” Sakuya begged with a sweet, sweet tone, as much as she can to try and bail out of the guilt of trouble that she asked Misaka to do the fetching on her tools. “Now please come on back, Saburo. We don’t have all night here, even my uncle has gone off boozing and 120% says it’s gonna be an all-night-binge.”

“...I am not going to help you on this any further. I got stuff to do tomorrow and I am tired as hell now.” Saburo snap back with an unamused expression. He took a glimpse on his digital watch and it shows that it’s already 12:02 A.M. Midnight.

“Of course not, silly! You already helped me a big bunch on this one, man!”

“I'll just bring these to your garage and I am gonna split without looking back, is that alright with you?” Saburo asked with his eyebrows raised, not feeling impressed or half-convinced with Sakuya’s half-hearted gratitude.

“Yes, yes, if you do that, I’ll WORSHIP you, My Prince!” Sakuya giggled with a snort.

“...I’ll be at your place by 15 minutes.” Saburo ignored her and said what needs to be said.

“ARIGATOU!!” Sakuya squealed and made a kissy sound on Saburo’s phone speakers. Feeling a bit awkward by her direct approach on affection, Saburo shook his head, rolled his eyes and hung up the phone before he stuck it back to his pocket.

“...” Saburo let out another sigh as he went back into his car. Before he starts up the engine, he took one more glimpse on the moonlight.

“The mountains are too quiet lately...”

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Meanwhile, at the Harima International Airport near the Saitama Prefecture, there were passenger planes passing by even during midnight, and there are countless passengers from every country that seem to be finding a place to rest for a while after along flight inside the airport station.

As one more plane lands slowly on the open airfield, it was a City Airline-branded Embraer ERJ 145 plane, and the report on the flight announcement board states that it is from Sweden to Japan.

Soon as the plane came slowly to a full-stop, the passengers got out from the plane when the stairs were rolled towards the exit door on the machine.

Among the passengers, one of them stood out slowly and made it through the steps. It was a young girl and she seems to be more busy examining the surroundings of the midnight skies at the land of Japan, rather than being concerned about her being late to check in for her flight arrival. She took a quick glance around her and proceed with taking a deep breath before exhaling.

As the wind blew through her brown ponytailed hair, her serene blue, almond-shaped eyes glanced towards the large airport station of the Saitama Prefecture. She was wearing a blue hoodie with an inner layer of orange cotton shirt. Her hoodie is filled with many badges of different vibrant colors, she also wears a fairly short yellow dress accompanied with a brown leather belt that has an extra belt that was made for simple styling on her left side of the dress. Complete with a pair of green-black striped stockings and grayish black boots that were metal-plated on the bottom with a green highlight on the top of the zip. She seems to be the person that doesn’t like to tie her shoes, so this makes it easy for her to wear it at anytime even when she may be in a rush sometimes.

She also has a big, somewhat smug smile on her face, as she raised an eyebrow easily, she finally found her voice in remark of her destination.

“So this is Japan huh...? Sweet! I can’t wait to see what’s in store for me here!”
As she slowly walks down with her luggage and backpack together, her phone rang and it was worn around her neck with s pink ribbon. She unzipped her hoodie and took out the iPhone 5 that was ringing about. The touch-screen display shows it was from “Uncle”. Without any delay, she answered the call.

“Hello, uncle!” The petite girl squealed with a slight tone of mischief as she walks slowly towards the airport and left the stairs with the plane together behind. “Yes, just got there, right on schedule! Oh, and thanks for bringing my car along! You left it at the garage of Mr. Suzuki, right?”

“Yes, Vanessa, just like everything you planned to...now you go have fun with your stay, okay? Love you, sugar. Be sure to call back or email me once in a while, eh?” The voice of a caring, gentle man said through the speakers of the iPhone.

Vanessa couldn’t help but smile happily hearing that. Inside her heart, she felt like hopping around like a child.

“I will, I will! Promise, uncle!! Thank you so much!”

“Oh, and one more thing...stay out of trouble and don’t get into street racing too much. They’ve a tight law enforcement there, be careful out there, okay?”

“No problemo, uncle! Vanny would never jump out of line! You know me, anyway, I am checking in and I will call back once I am at the Aunt Rachel’s house! Goodbye! I love you, uncle!!”

Vanessa kissed the iPhone before hanging up the phone. She has a feeling that this will be a great start of her life outside her own country from the main capital of Sweden, Stockholm. She raised an eyebrow once more with her usual smugly grin and walks inside the airport as the airconditioned air surrounds her body.

“Now then...what shall I start with after this?”

- つづく -

Hope you guys enjoyed it.

This post has been edited by Rin on Apr 7 2014, 07:17 AM

Whew, finally!

...actually, it wasn't that [redacted, but you know what I'm saying] because I rarely ever go on here anymore XD

Unfortunately, as of this time, I'll be heading off to bed. Do let Rin know of your thoughts, I'm sure he's looking forward to it! I know I have been...

haven't got to the prologue yet.
but i'l tell you this, vanessa anderrson has that vanellope von schweetz thing going on. XD

just an observation. and even if i finished reading it today, i dont think i can critique it as well as guys like kuroi and imma-noob can as i have no experience whatsoever about writing stories and therefore didnt feel like im in a position to do so. check on a few spelling and grammar errors if any but that's about it. >w<

This post has been edited by Jammy on Apr 11 2013, 06:34 AM

Thanks for the feedback, Jammy. =)

that's precisely waht's going on.

you prolly knew about it beforehand ya?
guess i didnt ask.
anyways, i like this girl already xD

Oh wow...a new story!

and the three characters are really interesting and well-thought out! I am liking them already.

Saburo is definitely the contrast of many main lead I see nowadays on anime. He's cold-looking, and doesn't seem to care much about anything, unlike many male leads that tend to complain about much. I like that actually. (staring at you now, Ouma Shu and Ohyama Takeru)

Sakuya is definitely a beautiful tomboy. I really like how she's all bruised-looking on the bio pic. And is it me, or did she has two fake fingers on her left arm?! O.O

If yes, how did she get that?!

finally...Vanessa....

She is just so....dang....HNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG!!!

She's just so adorable for a 19 year old! And much like what Jammy said, she really reminds me a bit of Vanellope~ <3

Would be interesting to see how she met up with Saburo and Sakuya.

Anyway, I am loving the Prologue already, keep at it, Rin!!

And so it finally happens...

The prologue is just beautifully written and a smooth start. Well done, Rin...



Vanessa is definitely the one that caught my attention the most other than Saburo's almost unfazed victory at his unofficial race.

I know this has been said a lot of times for now, Rin but Vanessa...

...is almost unbearably adorable.

I see your art has become more flexible in style, as her design is definitely more western-based compared to your other casts. Well done, dude.

Will definitely be paying more attention on this story from now on...

And also...apologies in advance for making PSE on hiatus again. :u

This post has been edited by クロイ on Apr 11 2013, 07:22 AM

Good job as usual Rin

oh and speaking of Vanessa....

SPOILER

This post has been edited by +-!mma_N00B-+ on Apr 11 2013, 11:08 PM

^ Holy crack...!

Even her supposed DERP face looks cute! (Since I don't see much problems there though...maybe it's her eyes, I dunno.)

But still, she's cute.

Hope there'll be more screentime of her in future.

as the resident pedobear for WME..i approve this..

what?you disagree?

well shit son i don't give much **** about honestly...and :3'd vanessa..

Gee, thanks for all the feedbacks, people.

I just hope RB33 would stop by here and read this too. XD

SPOILER

^^LULZOR..

I finally had time to check this out... I must say... so far so good If I would have one gripe about this... it would be that the first race has too much traces of Initial-D - Takumi's first race against Keisuke. But to be fair, majority of the aspiring writers here have their influences rooted in Initial-D and Wangan Midnight to begin with and that there are only so many suitable tropes a writer can use for their stories that similarities or comparisons to the more mainstream or popular ones are bound to happen.

That aside, it's a good start and I look forward to seeing Rin develop this story to have an identity of it's own. Kuroi was able to do it (I was actually half-expecting him to develop his PSE along the lines of You're Under Arrest with the seriousness of Ghost in the Shell but it's turning out great nonetheless) ; Gunma was likewise able to do it with his Supido series; and Antares had just rebooted his.

All in all, I have great hopes for this one. Keep it up Rin

Thanks for the feedback dude.

Though initial D was never in my mind to begin with during this planning, but I can see where you're coming from.

Let me just tell you that I've more to share than just touge racing alone, as mentioned before.

So, look forward to it.

Anyway, appreciated the feedback.

Looking forward to more

Wow, half the comments are almost rabid with reactions to Vanellop--oh, sorry, Vanessa!
Hehe, I only knew about her a few days before Rin posted this!

Thanks for the feedback everyone.

Now, it's time for Chapter 1 finally...

Code 1: The Blackened Path

It wasn’t too long before what happened last night and already there are buzzing across the vast and infinite world of the net itself.

The BBS boards of the Japan-Series Racing SV [Street Version] were bombarded with on the Tochigi section where there is a hot-topic entitled “Unknown Driver”.

As the arrow cursor moves towards it and with a single click on the topic, the page loads instantly and were filled with the brim on multiple posts of discussion about what happened.

Everyone was talking about the mysterious black Nissan 180SX that passed the Mazda Roadster last night at Happogahara.

There were even rumors stating that may be a professional driver on a practice run. But rumors don’t mean much unless there’s proof of it. Everyone was making up their own theories and assumptions as to who may be the mysterious driver that managed to defeat the driver in the Roadster so simply.

From outside the monitor screen, a redhead was seen scrolling down on the mouse and checking on the posts made by the users inside. She was slurping up a large cup of Pepsi ice-cream float on her left hand.

The tomboy has long red hair with intense-looking green eyes, and has a plaster on her nose with some bandage rounded on her neck, as if she is still recovering from some injuries. She wears a sleeveless orange shirt with a black leather jacket that has its long sleeves rolled up. The jacket also has many badges of many kind, and one of the more noticeable one was a Ford emblem on her left sleeve, and a McLaren emblem on her lower waist.

She also wears several minor accessories to complete her defiant, rebellious look as a tomboy that she is such as an S-shaped necklace, a yellow wristband and two orange rubber-wristbands on her other hand. Her two last fingers on her left hand were prosthetic and were made of gray-metal. It was definitely a treatment for a nasty accident that may have cost her to lose the last two fingers, but she was nonetheless getting used to the metallic feel on her left hand.

She wears an orange dress complimented with asymmetrical stockings, a black and white stripe pattern on her right and a blue one on her left.

As she reads through the posts, she turns her attention back to the Ford Granada that is sitting idle at the rather spacious garage next to her not-so-organized desk. It was filled with tools and small mechanical parts that were either swapped out or spares, or even replacements at some cases as some of them were still wrapped in a plastic bag. The wooden desk wasn’t as shiny as it was back then as there were many minor cuts on the legs. Even her own wheeled chair seemed dusty enough, despite her cleaning it up every once in a week. There was even a rock-star-decorated radio speaker blasting out some rock music to set the mood lightly for her to work on.

“Well great going, Prince...” Sakuya thought, slurping away on the ice-cream float. “You just pissed off one of the bigger-name team across Tochigi, unintentionally, as always.” The redhead mechanic turns her attention close towards the machine that was sitting idle there at the middle of the garage. Much as she seems concerned about the buzz that is happening on the forums, she isn’t distracted by it at all.

The gunmetal gray Ford Granada was currently being tweaked with its front hood open. The engine on the car was colossal and seemed recognizable. It was the engine of the Ford Racing Boss 302 and it has an engine strut bar installed on its center, accompanied by a large diameter turbine on each side of the engine, meaning it is twin-turbocharged. It also has a mounted titanium strut bar on the engine. The inside of the seat were completely reinforced with numerous spot-welds ands was mounted with a reinforced set of titanium roll cage. The rigidity of the car’s body was thoroughly reinforced with spot welds on every part necessary. There were still some parts that is under process of strengthening as some of them were welded halfway.

Down to the wheels, the front wheels were being prepped at the moment with Michelin tires while the rear is still empty, except it’s brakes were being installed halfway. They were brand new large-diameter brake rotors that were from AP-Racing manufacturer. Even the brake calipers and pads were brand new and they’re shiningly beautiful. It was a mildly expensive tune, but it had to be done on a monster car such as the Ford Granada to keep it tame.

“Let’s see...oh right...spot welding.” Sakuya puts down her drink and walks towards the darkening welding mask and put it on before wearing her welding gloves and leather apron. There was a Miller-brand wheeled welding machine with a torch there hanging idle not far away from the spot where the incomplete welding process is on the Ford Granada in progress.

Adjusting the voltage and amperage on the welding machine, Sakuya then grabs the torch and by adjusting a bit more on the oxygen valve and fuel gas valve, she aimed the copper tip on the incomplete spot of the lower rear on the Ford Granada, and starts welding away on the metal.

Sparks were coming out from the spot-welding as she worked on the body of the Granada slowly and delicately.

After about 35 minutes later, the Ford Granada was almost finished in its spot-welding process. While welding on the car still, she can hear sounds of an engine echoing from her place. It was the sounds of a car that she recognizes...

The sound of the SR20DETT engine.

It was then she realized that the car that stop by was none other than the black 180SX with dents everywhere on the front end that came and visited her garage.
Sakuya stops her work for a while as she puts the torch aside after shutting it off. She stood up and pulled up her welding mask to see the person that is here to pay her a visit.

It was a slight cloudy afternoon outside, but seeing the person’s face made her all the more happy still.

“Ah, hey Prince!” Sakuya squealed, much to the young man’s dismay. It was Saburo Misaka.

“...still working on it?” Saburo ignores the mechanic’s sugary remark and focus on the idle machine in progress.

“Yep, ran into some hiccups here and there, but I am good!” Sakuya piped up, turning her attention back to the PC on her desk. “Say, did you know there’s a big buzz goin’ on down the Tochigi forums?”

“Yeah, so?” Saburo prompted, not giving much care to what Sakuya is implying.

“Well, apparently; some guy in a big team called Speed-Buster that claimed territory in Happogahara is out there to find the one guy that smoked the crap out of one of them in a Mazda Roadster during their night-schedule practice run. I am gonna take a wild guess that guy is you since no one else would be willing to drive a dented 180SX in the winding roads of that mountain at such speed.”

“You mean the Mazda Roadster is part of the team? Hadn’t noticed.” Saburo uttered, doesn’t seem surprised one bit. And he shouldn’t be to be honest, because Happogahara was indeed a popular hot spot for aspiring street racers to practice on if they wish to be true racers that master the arts of apex driving under technical twisty courses. “So what’s the deal with this Speed-Buster sore loser?”

“The usual deal, ya know, holdin’ grudges on losing in a non-legit match, that kinda stuff.” Sakuya shrugged. “But I am sure they won’t recognize you just yet, since I know you’re not one that likes to show yourself too much on crowds.”

“...” Saburo pretended that he didn’t hear that, but not that she’s not right about it, he just doesn’t like admitting it. Saburo was never the one to show his face too much in front of the crowds due to his solitary nature. Saburo is like a lone-wolf all the time, working alone and living alone. But despite everything else, he still appreciates a bit of company, such as spending some time with Sakuya or even some of his older friends back in his graduation high-school days.

“...so I take it that the guy you said just now is still looking for me?” Saburo asked, his eyes remained sleepy and bored still.

“Guy’s got a name...I think he’s called...Souichiro Makoto.” Sakuya answered, her mind was having doubts on the name because she wasn’t paying a lot of attention to the driver just now. “Eh, but I am sure he’s just one of the minor members. Won’t be much of a harm if he’s the only one making a big deal out of it.”

“Leave it be then. I don’t feel like dealing with a numbskull who didn’t realize that I wasn’t even racing him to begin with. I don’t give a damn about what he thinks. I was just in a hurry to make sure I get your things fetched to you and that’s that.” Saburo explained with a sigh, obviously he is still quite displeased with the tedious work a few nights ago near the Happogahara pass.

“Come on...don’t be such a scowl-face.” Sakuya grinned sarcastically. “This at least shows that you’ve managed to make a buzz out of an encounter at least...or I dunno, maybe even a drive-by through these guys perhaps?”

“No, I am still not changing my mind about it yet. I can’t find any motivation that will give me enough of a good reason to attend to their silly charade other than my own pride to consider.” Saburo declined. One thing is clear; he is not going to stick his nose on where there are ridiculous rumors flying, especially when there may be some misunderstanding on its way that involves him.

“Ah, you’re still the same...oh well, might as well spend more time on my own garage then.” Sakuya shrugged, rolling her eyes with a narrowed smile. Saburo then turned his attention back to the Ford Granada.

“...so where did you get this Ford?” Saburo asked, slightly curious.

“My uncle gave it, duh!” Sakuya smiled with an eyebrow raised. “How often did you see a Ford as old as this one appear before in Japan, out of all places?”

“...I figured. You don’t plan on driving this as a mountain racing car, did you?” Saburo assumed with a slight tone of sarcasm. One glimpse on the engine block and he could tell that Ford Granada is no ordinary driving machine, with all that massive turbines, strut bars, tower bars and even the titanium roll cage together. And as he examined the engine briefly, he can tell it’s a swapped engine from another car, one that he at least know of. “I see your uncle’s done quite a crazy job on finding this V8...”

“You bet!” Sakuya chuckled, looking at the engine herself. “It was a hard find, really...my uncle got the Granada from some guy across America when he no longer wants it. So originally, this thing’s supposed to be tuned under my uncle’s tab. But eh...he’s kinda lost interest on tweaking it after giving it a good swap from a fairly old Mustang Boss 302 in his collection of tuned cars. So, knowing that I am eager to tweak cars with crazy amounts of torque potential, he delivered this baby to me and let me work on it the way I want to. So, with a good old Ford and a nice engine swap to start things with; I am quite content with my progress so far!”

“Huh...so, what problems are you running into? You said there’s a few hiccups on your work here...” Saburo asked.

“Oh, yes...well...” Sakuya scratches her head for a moment before she continued. “I am still finding a way to distribute the torque and speed on a balanced manner on this thing since the engine’s a lot tougher to manage than I expected. Still rackin’ my brain on the gear ratio, but I am sure I will be able to think of something...eventually. Plus that exhaust system sucks, I think I may need to make a swap for that one too, but I haven’t thought of anything yet...again.”
“Humph...still got a lot to do then.” Saburo said, crossing his arms. “Well then, here’s the thing you want me to buy for you.”

The young, unamused man tossed a large magazine that seems to be related to engines. It was a deluxe edition of a popular custom-tune-car related magazine entitled “Inferno’s Workshop.” The magazine cover was in fact, a massively powerful V8 engine with some headlines written on its side. Sakuya grabbed the magazine by her hand easily and flipped through a few pages on it.

“Hey, it’s out already, just as I expected! Thanks prince! You’re the best!” Sakuya hugged the magazine before tossing it back to her wooden desk, then proceed to give Saburo a swift, big hug before letting him go. Saburo flinched a little, but he was unfazed by her act of affection nonetheless.

“You know, you could always just take a break and buy this yourself instead of asking me to go buy whatever you want all the time. It’s not like I am always free either.” Saburo turned back and walked outside slowly. He wasn’t sure where he wants to go yet, but he felt like he’s spend enough time on Sakuya’s garage. It wasn’t exactly a pleasant place to be, because the scent on her junkyard behind her shop was heavy with its dusty air and it still reeks a bit of oil. It wasn’t too long before he found his voice again. “And hey, if there’s nothing else you want me to do, I am gonna split now.”

“Huh? No! No! No! Wait!!” Sakuya stopped her before Saburo turns tail and walks back to his black, dented Nissan. “Come on, I may be working still, but I could still chat for a while! I mean, it’s not like I am on a tight schedule here or anything! Stay for a while and talk with me a bit more, will ya?”

“Well hate to burst your bubbles, I don’t have much to talk about. You know how boring I can be.” Saburo declined with an unamused face, his eyebrows raised and with a painfully honest frown worn on his lips. There is no denying it; he is now so bored and dull that even his freed, vacant mind couldn’t think of anything else to chat about with his friend there whom has a lot of hopes in getting to know him more. Sakuya and him has been friends for quite a period of time, but most of the time Sakuya was the one doing the light-hearted talk while Saburo is the one being a calm listener all the time.

“Hey, at least you’re honest.” Sakuya grinned with appreciation. Much as dull a person Saburo may be, she enjoys and liked his honesty and straightforward attitude. “It’s alright if you don’t have much to talk, but I do.”

“...” Saburo scratched his neck a bit, feeling awkward at Sakuya’s remark. But nonetheless, even he knows how to appreciate goodwill, especially if it’s from his own friends. “Fine, I guess...I’ll stick a round a bit longer. Maybe uh...I can help you out on your work if you need any extra hands here. I feel like I am gonna slip into a coma if I don’t move my hands a bit more often by now.”

Hearing that alone puts a big smile on Sakuya’s face. When Saburo accept someone’s goodwill openly, he always seems to be able to throw in some sarcastic comments along to lighten things up, even if that wasn’t his intention at all. Sakuya then walks back to the desk and took another sip on her ice-cream float.

“Make yourself comfy as usual then, Saburo.”

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

It was another evening at the small town near the Saitama Capital. The trees were moving slowly with the winds blowing gently towards the smaller branches, crows were flying back to their nests in small groups as the residents were all exhausted from a day’s work. They were murmuring about all sorts of things, even gossiping about rumors of somebody doing something incredible or unusual.

The mood was lively, despite everyone feeling slightly exhausted. And the same could be said too on a slightly mature foreign citizen living near a house at a candy shop. Her short brown hair were tied a ponytail and her green eyes glanced towards the people passing by the small road.

Some cars were passing by at a domestic speed too. They regulation on this residential road is tight on the speed limits as the cars are restricted from driving any faster than 40 km/h.

“She should be here by any minute now...” The brown-haired lady thought, as if she is expecting someone to show up. As she waited, she continued her house-chore as she sweeps the leaves that were scattered on the outer corridor of her own house.

“Good evening, Miss Rachel.” an old lady’s voice greeted the foreigner on her left side. She knows the elderly woman and greeted back in return.

“Oh, how are you, Shino?” Rachel greeted. Her Japanese was slightly sloppy in terms of pronunciation, but vocabulary and grammar wise, it is enough for the local elder lady to understand what she says.

“Waiting for somebody?”

“Yeah...waiting for my niece to come back home.” Rachel replied, her hands are still restless on her cleaning routine.

“Ah...the one in that cute little car with the strange emblem?” The lady smiled. Rachel didn’t blame her, because it is understandable that locals didn’t know much about foreign cars, save for popular ones like Benz or Ferrari or even BMW and Porsche. And it’s not like the elder lady is a car buff either, so who could blame her for anything?

“Yeah...that’s my niece. Oh!” Rachel paused as she heard an unusual engine noise echoing not too far away. As the engine sound made its way through a corner’s exit and went straight to the path she is standing on, she then realized that the car was definitely the one she is waiting for. “Speaking of her, there she is.”

The car was a lime-green coated hot-hatch, and the emblem that sits on the center of the car’s front end was a diamond-shaped logo and the car has the letter “R26.R” painted on it with red color. It also came with a set of shiny red-rims on the hot-hatch and the exhaust sounds calm. The front bonnet was carbon fiber made, giving it a sports-car feel.

It was a Renault Megane R26.R. And the car moved parks itself slowly at the parking spot from the open spot at the house of Rachel. The hot-hatch managed to park in the spot perfectly in one try, almost as if the driver inside has done it a lot of times before.

Of course...that’s what the driver thought until the green little hot-hatch made a slight bump on one of the potted flowers besides the wall...

As the car came to a full stop and with its engine shut off, the driver opened up the car’s door and walked out from the vehicle.

The person was a petite young lady with ponytailed brown hair and blue eyes.

“Don’t worry, everyone. It’s all under control!” She burst out chuckled with a smug smile on her face.

“Vanessa, how many times do I have to tell you to stop with the one-shot parking attempts at the bay?” Rachel snapped back, though her tone is anything but fierce as Vanessa is rather cool about it. “You could’ve run over some of my flowers there.”

“Oh, no worries. I mean come on, this was just one of those less fortunate times.” Vanessa shrugged, her eyebrows raised. Then she turned her attention to Shino.
“Oh hi, grandma Shino!”

Shino can understand her just fine. Vanessa was able to switch from her usual english language back to Japanese very quickly without clashing her tone or even pronunciation.

“Good evening, child.”

“Dinner’s almost ready, Vanessa.” Rachel said to her niece.

“Oh sweet, aunt! What do we have?” Vanessa squealed. “Please, no more sushi for tonight. I am kinda...jaded on those lately.”

“Well, lucky for you, we have some fish tempura tonight.” Rachel smiled as she continued sweeping the floor. “There’s also three slices of salmon teriyaki. If you think that’s not enough, we still have a bit of crab salad.”

“Gorgeous!! Now I am really famished.” Vanessa hopped. “Oh, and I almost forgot. I am gonna go somewhere tonight so I might come home late.”

Hearing that alone, Rachel felt something uneasy is brewing.

“How late? Don’t tell me you’re planning to go out until late midnight?”

“Oh of course not, aunt!” Vanessa grinned with her eyebrows raised and her arms crossed. “I am just gonna go there until around 11 something at most. I am just taking a little cruise at that old road near the Shoumaru station.”

“Oh my...” Shino gasped a bit as she recognize the place that Vanessa mentioned. And if she is planning to drive around the road that she thinks it is, it is definitely not quite a good idea at all. “...don’t tell me you’re planning to go driving around the mountain pass near that place?”

“Wait a minute...” Rachel added along. She too now realize where Vanessa is planning to drive and she’s definitely not pleased about it. “You’re trying to drive at the Shoumaru Pass?”

“Well, it won’t hurt if I am not racing, right?” Vanessa tried to reason her way out of this. In her head, about five to ten said she will be able to slip out of trouble, but she is not going to hold her breath on it just yet. “I am just gonna go there and examine the road at a moderate speed, I won’t crash into stuffs, I promise that! I mean I passed my license test on my first try! What could possibly go wrong?”

“That’s not the point, young lady.” Rachel shot back, her tone is serious. “Shoumaru Pass is a very bad-conditioned road, the path is extremely narrow, and it’s filled to the brim with twisty curves and U-turns. The end of the asphalt on the outer lane is so bumpy and rough, you cannot even drive on that spot near the guardrail, let alone a safe line. You can’t even drive anywhere pass 50 km/h there without risking a near crash. You could get hurt, even if you’re not racing...which I certainly HOPE you won’t.”

And Vanessa’s aunt was right about it.

Shoumaru Pass was known by many aspiring street racers in the locals as one of the most difficult to drive mountain pass in Saitama Prefecture. Not only was the road extremely dark during nighttime, the path is extremely twisty, the asphalt was terribly uneven on the outer-lane at most part that it is unusable by any cars, and the driving space is very, very narrow. A driver’s sense alone will never be able to compensate for the risk of driving at such a dangerous pass unless he is fully confident in his knowledge on the layout of the entire course. It was literally impossible to even drive pass the area at domestic speed, let alone a full-blown racing speed range.

And Vanessa is very well aware that even she would not be able to go pass the safe margin of 50 km/h unless she’s confident enough. And she’ll be lying to herself if she said she is not afraid on tackling that heavily damaged path in a racing mode driving.

“Come on, aunt...you just gotta trust me on this one. Please?” Vanessa pleaded. “I promise you that I won’t street-race! I mean I am just gonna drive around there to examine the course and familiarize myself with it so I can handle my car a lot better next time in an actual road. It could be a good practice to brush up my driving! It’s what my uncle would’ve wanted! Please, aunt!”

“...” Rachel just sighed with a facepalm. She knows that her little niece could be a very stubborn young lady and things won’t go exactly well if she bars Vanessa from doing something that she sets her mind completely on. “Alright then, but you must promise me that you will not come back with a dent on that Renault, young lady. Or else, I am confiscating the car keys from you.”

“YES!! Thank you, thank you so much, aunt Rachel!!” Vanessa jumped around in joy and hugged her aunt. “I promise, I won’t crash the car! Just you wait!”
“You better not, then. Your uncle is always concerned about your safety sometimes.” Rachel reminded Vanessa again. Except this time she does it with a narrowed smile. “Now then...you want to get your dinner done now? And since you’re going out tonight, you’ll be doing the dishes, too.”

“No problemo, aunt!” Vanessa saluted playfully and turns her attention to Shino. “By the way, wanna join us in dinner, grandma Shino?”

“It’s alright, child. You enjoy yourself with your aunt and be good, alright?” Shino just smiled and waved goodbye as she walks away slowly from Rachel’s residence.
“Bye bye then, grandma Shino! Stay safe!” Vanessa greeted and waved goodbye in return too before she hops into to the door and made her way to the kitchen, twirling her car keys about while her aunt just shook her head lightly before she follows from behind and closes the door after she is done cleaning the house outside of the fallen leaves.

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

It was 9:45PM at the dark roads of Shoumaru Pass, and it doesn’t seem like the pass is as quiet as it seems, for there are a few people still standing about at the small parking area near the Shoumaru Station. There were a handful of tuned Japanese vehicles parked at the area, and some of them were chattering about how to tackle in a corner or even footwork in pedals of a car. They were making gestures about how to handle the steering wheel even.

It was a gathering of local racers near the Saitama area.

And on one side there were a group of matching jacket-wearing drivers sitting together and spending time on talking about something. They were all females and apparently they got the attention of a few other drivers around them in the parking lot.

One of them were sitting on the front end of a red Nissan Skyline GT-R BNR32, while the rest were standing beside a blue Nissan Silvia S-15 Spec R with a carbon-fiber hood. There was two other cars that were Toyotas. One of them is a black Altezza and another is a gray Supra JZA70.

“So when are you planning to change your tires, Adachi?” One of the female drivers asked on the one sitting at the GTR. She has dyed blonde hair and she wears a simple earring on her left ear.

“That won’t be necessary. These are the hi-grip tires specially used for track-racing. They will be able to dominate this course easily.” Adachi replied confidently. “Besides, who would’ve dared to sic their cars against my R anyways? That’s just plain dumb. This car is specially designed for apex driving and with such a narrow course as the Shoumaru Pass, as long as I am leading, no opponents would dare to overtake me.”

“Well you’re right about that.” The member said. She was a tall, lanky spectacles-wearing black-haired female. She seems to be the driver of the black Altezza. “So with this many wins on our belts, who should we hit next? There isn’t a lot of racers worth our attention tonight, if you ask my opinion...”

“I am planning to take the night off for now actually, Mikan.” Adachi sighed with an unamused grin. “I’ve seen the way these guys here drive during their practice runs, they suck. I can’t seem to find enough motivation to race these people...”
“Well if you’re taking the night off, maybe I should too?” the slightly shorter female member added. She was slightly chubbier, and has short brown hair and wears a Nissan emblem on her matching black jacket. “My Silvia isn’t really 100% ready tonight for our usual practice routine, might as well stop risking it for any probable damage done to the ride.”

“No, Megu.” Adachi denied. “You will be joining with the rest of the gang here on your usual practice runs. We cannot let our guard down entirely just because we don’t have opponents here yet. We need to show these people how real drivers tackle a dangerous road such as Shoumaru compared to their half-hearted driving philosophy.”

“Yeah, Adachi’s got a point.” the last girl added. She was a short black-haired tomboy with a slender physique. “My Supra’s already done heating up, so might as well play it out the usual way. Besides, with these weak posers around, I don’t think we need to play out our ace in the hole so early. Three of us would suffice to thrash anyone stupid enough to stand in our way.”

As everyone is talking still about their racing activities, not too far away there comes another car that joins the gathering, but it was a different type of car and its headlights got the attention of many drivers around the parking area. The engine sound was the first thing that caught Adachi’s attention, as well as her members.
They stared at the mysterious latecomer and examined on the car’s plate-number.

“...this engine’s sound...” Adachi thought ominously. It was definitely not the sound of a JDM machine that she sees everyday around her area. And above all, the car is carrying an emblem that she has never seen before until she finally realize that the car was an import. The diamond shape logo then struck Adachi’s senses like a red alert. The car was a lime-green hot-hatch with a carbon fiber bonnet. The car parks itself on an empty spot near on the end where no one was standing and revved the car twice before shutting down its engine.

“That’s...a Renault?!”

- つづく -

Feedbacks are appreciated, as always.

This post has been edited by Rin on Jun 21 2013, 07:04 AM

Found time just now to read this story and I gotta say, it's a pretty good one so far. I'm liking the prospect of seeing foreign cars on Japanese touge so I'm really looking forward to more of this.

Nice work, Rin

Things look like they're going to heat up soon. I like where this is going, especially since this is probably the ONLY thing I don't know about what could happen in this story!
(Don't ask me for development info, though...I wouldn't be sure that Rin would want that let out just yet. It's early on in the series after all.)

This post has been edited by TouyaShiro on Apr 14 2013, 11:18 PM

needs a VW Golf MkI...btw,nice chapters..

Another amazing chapter, Rin!

Overall, Saburo and Sakuya is taking it easy still while the rumors are making a big deal out of nothing at Happogahara. It's a bit humorous when you think about it; since Saburo isn't even racing anyone that time technically. :U

and I wonder how much power that Granada can churn out? If I am not wrong, Sakuya is going to make that thing a hell of a machine for sure in the end...

Meanwhile, HOORAY FOR MORE VANESSA GOODNESS!

And I wonder what's going to happen next on the Shoumaru Pass...? Something tells me that the team led by Adachi is going to be happy/unhappy to see the arrival of Vanessa; that's for sure...

Overall, the pacing on the story is smooth and slow, I like it.

Keep it up, Rin!!