"Obviously you met DK," Leia looked up at the street lights above her parked car. In the distance you could see part of the bright Tokyo skyline, the overpass of several highways towering above the large area of the car meet. "His real name is Tetsurou Kuroo. Everyone calls him DK, though."
You continued to stare at the horizon, the city lights shining brightly against the night sky. "DK? What does that mean?"
"Drift King," Leia responded with a large smile on her face as she swung her legs back and forth. "All the girls call him Dragon King because of the dragon tattoo on his arm, but if you're lucky enough to sleep with him you're able to see the full thing on his back." Leia hummed as she looked up at the highway overpass, watching cars speed by.
"Drift King?" You pondered while raising an eyebrow, knowing the word sounded familiar, yet not familiar enough for you to remember.
"He's the best drift racer in all of Tokyo. You know when cars do donuts around in a circle?" Leia swirled her finger in a circular motion to mimic a full revolution. "It's like that, but cooler."
You both looked back at Kuroo leaning against the side of his bright red Nissan 350Z, flexing his right bicep while proudly showing off the dragon tattoo across his arm. Another guy with dyed blonde hair tied back into a small bun came up to him, handing a wrench from the toolbelt around his waist.
"That guy right next DK is Kenma Kozume, a.k.a. Snake Eyes." Leia mentioned, motioning her finger to his direction. "He doesn't race, but he's the best mechanic on Nekoma, the absolute mastermind behind DK's excellent drifting. If your car gets tuned by Snake Eyes, you're bound to win the race."
"Nekoma," you looked towards the label on Kuroo's bomber jacket that Leia had around her waist. "Is that your car club?"
"Yeah, kind of. We're part of the top five gangs in all of Tokyo for street racing," Leia explained with her head leaned back. "The others, not as good as Nekoma, but also in the top five—Seijoh, just like your cousin," She turned her head to face your body, the ends of her lips curled up against her cheeks. "Fukurodani, Inarizaki and Karasuno as well."
"Damn," you exasperated. "That's a lot of names to remember."
"I'm sure your cousin can probably help you out on it," Leia whistled. "Just know their names and color associations and you should be fine."
You both heard a boom of laughter, followed by the revving of a loud car engine. A grey Mitsubishi Eclipse with yellow rims on the tires passed by Leia's car as it blasted a song with heavy bass—you recognized it as Drake's Nonstop.
A man with spiky grey hair sat in the driver's seat as you both watched him pull over and back into an empty parking space, diligently hopping out of his vehicle. He enthusiastically chuckled with other men dressed in grey around him, the bright yellow font of their nicknames plastered on the back of their bomber jackets.
"That's Kotarou Bokuto, a.k.a. Blackjack." Leia mentioned with her head tilted and a smile on her face. "You can hear him and his car from a mile away."
You looked back over at Bokuto who stood proudly in his grey bomber jacket, talking to another guy in the same one with the words Fukurodani Squad labeled on the front. He immediately slapped the man's back, another laughter erupting from his mouth as his eyebrows raised up in an enthusiastic nature. They all surrounded silver cars with yellow accents, their side of the parking lot blasting upbeat drum and bass music.
"Bokuto is extremely popular around here and makes an interesting rival for the racers. He doesn't drift, but somehow always seems to give DK a hard time when they race." Leia pointed to a man talking to Bokuto with short black hair and blue eyes, a toothpick resting in between the corner of his lips. "Keiji Akaashi, a.k.a. Spades—also an excellent mechanic. Not comparable to Kenma, but always comes up with new tricks for Blackjack's Eclipse."
"What about the others? You mentioned Inarizaki and Karasuno, right?" You questioned while placing both of your elbows on top of your knees, slumping your body forward on top of Leia's car. "Sorry if I keep asking too many questions, I just wanna make sure I'm understanding everything correctly. So far, everyone seems pretty interesting."
"Oh it's no problem. I always hate that feeling of never knowing what's going on, so I'm glad I can help you out. There aren't that many of us here in a male-dominated subculture, so I always get excited when I see another girl out here enjoying her time, taking an interest."
She scanned across the parking lot and spotted the corner with a group of men surrounding all-black cars as sleek as the night—looking the most intimidating out of all of the gangs in the car meet. Although all of them had black hoodies and black jeans covering the majority of their bodies, the snake tattoos on all of their necks stood out clear as day. Cigarette smoke and vapor clouds surround their section of the parking lot, making it impossible to see their faces clearly.
"Those guys right there are the Inarizaki Bois. They're extremely pretentious, but they deserve to be by how amazingly fast they are on the track." A man with silver hair and black tips rested against a Nissan Silvia S15 with a cigarette in between his lips, chatting with another member.
"Shinsuke Kita, their main racer, a.k.a. Sly Fox. He always starts off at last place, but by the end, easily jumps up to first. He catches up to you within a second, it's fucking ridiculous." Leia crossed her arms and stared straight at the two identical twins arguing right next to Kita—one leaning against another black car as the other yelled in his face.
"Those are the Miya Brothers. They have the exact same car, color and model. When they're both in a race, you can never tell which car is which," Leia scoffed, obviously annoyed by something. "Atsumu Miya, a.k.a. Thrasher—the blonde one, fucked up my car once during a race. He's a prick."
You nodded your head in agreement, giving your pity. "That seems annoying."
In an instant, Leia swiveled her body towards you with an annoyed face. "It cost thousands to fix my car after that. What a fucking pain."
A large crowd roared as you noticed a sleek black Lexus LFA with electric blue accents across the body roll up from the entrance of the parking lot, the sound of their engine rumbling low to the ground. Following behind was an orange Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution, the same model of car your father used to have.
"Oh look here, it's the Tyrant, Tobio Kageyama of the Karasuno Killers."
Leia pointed to the driver of the Lexus LFA, watching him give a distasteful scowl to the crowd. His black hair slicked back against his forehead while his dark blue eyes matched the aura of his car. You both watched him roll up to the section of the parking lot dedicated to the Karasuno Killers, noticing all of the members wearing orange, while he wore all black.
"Kageyama's new to the scene, yet he's placed first in every single race he's been in. He overthrew the reigning champion of drift racing in all of Tokyo, actually. Yet, he's still fairly new, so we call him the Tyrant."
You looked towards Kageyama again as he let out an exhale of clouds from the vape he took a hit off of, passing the mod to a man with a shaved head. "He's pretty much an outcast, but he knew that joining a gang had to be the only way for him to get recognition in the underground racing scene. He's pretty much the main racer on the Karasuno Killers for now."
"You sure do know a lot about all the racers here." You turned your head to the left, noticing Leia had aimlessly looked up into the sky. "Are you close with everyone?"
"Mmm, you can say that." She closed her eyes and continued to lean her head back, placing her left hand against the hood of her car. "I just have connections to a lot of people. DK is beloved by basically everyone here, which also means I've gotten to know all the top racers."
You both jolted up from the boom of several engines roaring near the front entrance of the parking lot as the crowd in front of you cheered. Your eyes followed a line of bright white cars from different companies and models, all with teal accents on the edges of the side skirts.
They all followed a single white Mazda RX-7 Veilside Fortune with black accents and teal stripes on the edge of the windows. Every single car in the queue had their windows tinted dark, making it impossible to see who was driving in any of the vehicles. You assumed by the colors that it was the Seijoh Brawlers, which meant one of the cars belonged to Iwaizumi.
"Ah, just in time. Speaking of the top racers, the Seijoh Brawlers definitely hold some of the best." Leia propped her feet up onto the hood of her car and rested her chin on her knees, bringing her legs close to her body. "Your cousin should be in that lineup."
A crowd of people gathered around the Seijoh Brawlers as the drivers backed into their parking spots and stepped out of their vehicles. All of the men had white t-shirts and teal bomber jackets, bright lettering of their nicknames plastered across their backs.
The man that was leading the pack in the Mazda RX-7 Fortune stepped out with his back turned against the crowd, his right hand pulling back his bangs. Instead of a bomber jacket, he wore an open Off-White button down shirt with his sleeves rolled up, the customized moniker Cypher written across the back. The minute he turned around, your interest piqued—although you were across the parking lot, his eyes fixated in the direction of where you and Leia were sitting.
"Tooru Oikawa—a.k.a. Cypher," Leia mumbled as she continued to rest her chin onto her knees. "Reigning champion of the street races, best in Tokyo. Recently overthrown by the Tyrant."
Oikawa continued to look in your direction, yet you could not tell where his eyes were fixated on. You saw an expressionless yet intimidating look plaster across his face before he turned around back to the Seijoh Brawlers. "Interesting nickname. Why's he called Cypher?"
"There's two meanings," Leia clarified. "He's called Cypher because when he drifts, he makes perfect zeros into the road. There is never a moment where his drifts and spins aren't calculated perfectly. If Kuroo wasn't already established as the Drift King, Oikawa would definitely claim that title."
You immediately recognized your cousin the moment he walked out of his white Subaru WRX STI, going up to Oikawa and whispering something into his ear. You stared intently at Iwaizumi, hoping he saw you across the parking lot.
"The other meaning," Leia continued as she stared directly at Oikawa. "Cypher's a blank slate. No one knows what kind of person he truly is. Sure, he puts on a front—everyone has to. But under that intimidating act, he's impossible to crack."
A Seijoh Brawlers member handed Oikawa his white bomber jacket with Cypher written across the back. In one swift motion, he effortlessly slid both of his arms through the sleeves with a smug look on his face. It appeared that he was the leader of the gang with his contrasting colors and confident demeanor.
"He spent several years leading a faction under a yakuza clan called the Kitagawa Daiichi down south in Osaka. He made some serious money off the kinds of businesses he did, that's how you know he was able to afford his luxurious custom Veilside RX-7."
"Oh, so these gangs aren't just car clubs," you continued to stare at Oikawa, observing him prop open the hood of his car as he let one of the members of the Seijoh Brawlers inspect underneath. "The yakuza is involved."
"With anything illegal, the yakuza will always be involved." Leia pursed her lips, squinting her eyelids. "Even with underground street racing, you can never seem to escape them."
"What kind of person is he?" You nodded your head and pointed your chin towards Oikawa, swinging your legs off the edge of the car. "Just by first glance, he looks like the kind of person to take up two parking spots."
You both began to chuckle together as Leia grabbed onto your arm, leaning in to rest her head on your shoulder. With her eyes closed and a large smile on her face, she let out a loud high pitched wheeze—for which you could not resist laughing along to as well.
"You know what, I really like you. You're pretty funny." She took in a long deep breath before staring back towards the Seijoh Brawlers, looking back straight in the direction of Oikawa.
"But honestly, it beats me. Cypher's pretty much your run-of-the-mill bad boy, if you also include he's the top racer in the underground street racing scene. But unfortunately, no one—including me, knows a thing about him, only his business. No one can decipher the great Cypher."
You noticed Iwaizumi talking to him, noting back when he mentioned having to meet with a guy named Cypher before the race. After the information Leia had disclosed about Oikawa, you couldn't help but speculate about how Iwaizumi was able to involve himself with a guy like him. You crossed your legs on top of Leia's S2000 while peering straight at your cousin, still hoping he was able to notice you.
"The guy talking to Cypher," you pointed towards Iwaizumi peering underneath the hood of Oikawa's car. "That's my cousin."
Leia whipped around the hood of her car and got extremely close to your face; the shocked expression in her eyes revealing it all. "Indigo is your cousin?!"
"Fucking—who?"
"Hajime Iwaizumi, he's your cousin?" Leia reiterated, switching back to formalities.
You backed away just enough to put some distance between you and Leia. "Yeah, is he a big deal around here?"
"He's pretty much the entire package," Leia explained. "An amazing mechanic and a pretty fucking good racer. Girls would kill to sleep with your cousin." She winked her left eye at you, obviously swooned by Iwaizumi's underground street racing reputation.
"Ugh, I don't want to hear about that." You crinkled your nose with a scowl on your face, disgusted by Leia's remark. All she did was shoot you another playful smile in return, tapping her fingers along the hood of her car. "I didn't know he was pretty popular around here."
"You should probably go see him before his race starts, let him know you're here." Leia stretched out her arms up in the air before placing her feet back onto the ground, grabbing your hand right after. "Here, I'll take you to them."
You hopped off the hood of her Honda S2000 and fixed your dress before placing your hands inside the pockets of your denim jacket again. As you walked alongside her in the direction of the Seijoh Brawlers, you held in your breath, trying your best to slow down your rapid heart rate. In a few moments, it would be the first time you and Iwaizumi had seen each other in over a decade.