Hey, author here. Sorry it took so long to update, I was kinda busy. Anyway, I've revisited previous chapters and adjusted a few things, the most major change being the date Nara arrived (I had to make them fit the Japanese summer break period, which I had accidentally overlooked when I started off). So, instead of April 4, I've moved the Saturday he arrived in to July 18, 1998. Apologies for screwing that up back then, heh.
Anyway, here's Chapter 5.
As the 86 accelerated ahead, I had already started to observe the hatchback's behavior.
More torque than my SA. Natural, but also more power than the 12A.
... Also natural.
I felt the first corner approach. Felt, because I was familiar enough with Akina.
Not yet, not yet...
I turned my head to observe the young Fujiwara. He seems relaxed.
Here comes the corner-
In a split second, I froze in fear. Takumi had just exceeded the braking distance I was used to with the SA.
And just as quickly, the young Fujiwara applied the brakes. I held onto the passenger seat tighter.
The Corolla slowed down and went into a combat drift, entering the corner at speeds beyond my comfort zone.
As the car reached the apex, however, I relaxed, knowing that we're not going to crash.
The Toyota exited the corner, its 1600 cc inline-four revving as high as it would go.
T-this guy...
I panted quietly, realizing that the young Fujiwara was a better driver than me. Much, much better.
The speed chime rang. A pleasant sound, but it was unnecessary for me as I was constantly directly looking at the dashboard.
As the next corner arrived, I was much less nervous as the hachiroku went through it, observing as it flawlessly drifted mere centimeters away from the guardrail.
And when the third came, I was no longer afraid, now immersed in seeing what I had done wrong with my driving, and thus learning something new.
Soon enough, we arrived at the first straightaway.
"Aren't you scared?" Takumi asked as we barreled down the open road.
I shook my head. "Not anymore. Man, you're amazing!"
"I-I'm not that great," was the reply I got as I noticed the young Fujiwara blush lightly at the praise. "Rather, you look like you're used to this."
I shrugged, a small smile on my face. "I ride along with others."
"Hmm..."
And as the next corner arrived, the both of us were silent again. It felt like Takumi knew that I've been driving, and that doesn't line up with my claims of not having a car. He could sense my lie, while I could feel that he knew the truth.
Driver to driver, huh...
--------------
Meanwhile, at a nearby diner, three men were just wrapping up a discussion about an upcoming challenge against Akina's 86.
Two of them are brothers. One of them doesn't race, but he serves as the "clerk" for the team.
All three are part of the Akagi RedSuns.
Takahashi Ryosuke sipped his warm tea, after explaining to Keisuke and Fumihiro how turbocharged vehicles were double-edged swords. He has also thought about Nakazato Takeshi's BNR32, the car Akina's 86 would likely race against next. A formidable car indeed, powered by the RB26DETT and utilizing an advanced AWD system, the ATTESA-ETS.
The older Takahashi's mind wandered off to the recent encounter he had with the GT-R, the black Godzilla powering up the uphill, chasing his own beloved FC.
Oh, and there was the green SA.
"Hey, Fumihiro."
"Yes, Ryosuke-san?" Hiroshi responded, looking up from his iced tea.
"Have we ever seen a green SA from the SpeedStar before?"
"SA?" Keisuke asked, curious.
"First generation RX-7, SA22C," the older Takahashi replied cooly. "They were built between 1978 to 1980, and despite being in the same generation as the FB, they were unique in many ways as well."
"Isn't the FB what all the first-gen RX-7s are?" Fumihiro asked, now curious as well.
"Not quite. The first generation of RX-7s can be divided into 3 series. Series One ran from 1978 to 1980, and these are the SAs. Due to Mazda adhering to American VIN naming conventions, Series Two onwards became the FB for the rest of the generation."
"I see," was the reply. "But why are you interested in one, Ryosuke-san?"
"The FB was slow, wasn't it?" Keisuke chimed in. "Despite what I've seen with that 86, that car won't be any trouble for us."
"That is true; minus the barely-100 hp 12A rotary engine that was the predecessor to the 13B, despite its lightness the SA had flaws that were fixed on the FB, such as the tendency for its front to start to lift up at high speeds," the older Takahashi explained. "However, for the first time, I'm not interested in the performance just yet; I'm concerned about the license plate."
The other two men jumped back, surprised. "Hey, Aniki," the younger Takahashi quietly said, "the driver may be pretty, but you don't have to go that far..."
Ryosuke chuckled in response. "You've both got the wrong idea. When I saw the SA on Akina, there was something off about it, and after reaching the peak I quickly scribbled down its license plate number while it was still fresh in my mind. And here it is," he said, taking out his wallet and handing a slip of paper over to Fumihiro. "I need you to help me out, Fumihiro; look for the SA for me. I've got the number memorized now, so I'll look up the data for the car myself. After I'm done with formulating a plan for the 86, that is."
"Will do, Ryosuke-sama," was the reply.
The younger Takahashi rested his head on his hand. "I still think you've found a pretty girl."
The older Takahashi sipped his tea again. "If you take all cars as feminine per tradition, the SA is a beautiful girl anyway."
"Oh, come on!"
------------
I drove my SA downhill, the little 12A screaming as I revved high and shifted.
With the corner ahead, I tried braking at the edge of my comfort zone again.
The RX-7 slowed down just enough, and with my foot stepping lightly on the gas, I cornered a little bit faster than usual, passing the apex almost perfectly.
But it still wasn't fast enough. Not at the limit where the hachiroku went with Takumi behind the wheel.
The 86 had increased my desired level of cornering, and has helped me corner faster. But I'm still not faster.
Why? This ain't right...
I went through the next few corners, unable to get the feeling I wanted.
I braked again.
Shit, too hot!
Quickly turning, I narrowly avoided hitting the outside guardrail, obviously botching my cornering attempt.
I stopped the SA in the middle of the road, thinking.
I think I made a mistake by welding the differential shut. I tried improving my acceleration, but it didn't work.
I put SA into gear and drove off.
Think I need a new differential. I'll ask Boss if there's any tuning shop nearby.
----------
"A tuning shop, huh..." Mr Tachibana thought for a moment. "Why do you wanna know?"
"Well, just something good-to-know, eheh..." I replied nervously.
The old man looked at me suspiciously.
I sweatdropped. "Eh, what?"
"Hmm... If there's a shop you want, it's Suzuki Motors," the boss suggested. "Masashi's a good friend of mine and Bunta's, he can source many things that people like racers will need. Ah, Bunta's Takumi's father, by the way."
"Yeah, I think I remember that being mentioned," I recalled. "Sounds great Boss, thanks! What's the address?"
"Well- hey, isn't it better if I just bring you there?" the old man asked helpfully, still eyeing me mildly suspiciously.
I sweatdropped again. "N-no, not necessary, don't wanna trouble ya! I also want to do this as a personal thing of mine, but thanks for the offer!" I smiled nervously.
"Hmm..." Mr Tachibana kept his gaze.
"Eh, what?"
"Well, alright then," he finally relented. "The address is..."
-------------
8 pm. My shift was over, and right after dinner I immediately went over to my SA, driving towards the address Mr Tachibana gave me.
Rounding a corner, the lit "Suzuki Motors" sign hung out of the side of a shop.
There it is.
Turning in, I stopped in front of the auto shop.
A middle-aged man smoking a wearing a blue uniform, around the same age as Boss, noticed me the moment I turned in, and began to walk towards me from my left.
I got out of the SA, keeping the engine running and moving over to the other side of my car. "Hello! This is Suzuki Motors, right?"
"Sure is, kid!" the man replied. "That's one nice car you've got there! I'm Suzuki Masashi, nice to meet you."
"Adachi Narahiko, but call me Nara. Pleased to meet you, too!" I smiled, shaking hands with him. "Mr Tachibana told me I could come here for car parts."
"Oh, Yuichi!" he replied, surprised. "I take it that you're one of the guys who work at the gas station?"
"Yep! New employee, though."
"I see. Anyway, what do you need?"
"Ah, two things; I want to replace all my suspension bushings with polyurethane ones for starters. I'd need a new factory differential as well. Mine's welded closed and I don't seem to be able to corner as well as compared to with an open one."
"Yeah, I can see that," the middle-aged man chuckled. "Your rear wheels were squelching as you turned in, weren't they?"
"Yep, and I want to fix that..." I replied sheepishly.
He chuckled again. "Anything else?"
"Well, I'd like a Kamei front lip for my car, if that's fine," I continued, remembering how the SA always threatened to lift her front wheels at high speeds due to the shape of the front. The FB fixed that issue with the redesigned front, however.
"Ah, the aerodynamic issues of the SA," the middle-aged man recalled knowingly. "Good choice, kid."
"Thanks, heheh..."
Man, this guy definitely knows his stuff!
"Wait," I stopped, remembering that I had a budget. "How much would the lip cost?
"Hmm..." Mr Suzuki pondered for a while. "I'll say 35 thousand yen, would that be fine?"
"35 thousand... Yeah, it's fine," I sighed, relieved.
"Alright then. Anything more?" he asked.
"Well, can I get a replacement factory semi-automatic choke? My current one's manual since I replaced it some time ago."
"That'll be easy to do, no problem. I've got first-gen open differentials and polyurethane bushing kits in stock, but you'll need to wait for your lip and choke to arrive. I estimate it to be one week, will that be fine?"
"Absolutely! Can I entrust you with my car until they're installed?"
"Sure thing, but don't you need to drive?" he asked, curious.
"Ah, not really for these days. I'll feel safer if it's with you, too."
"Ah, alright then," he replied, getting into the driver's seat.
I suddenly remembered something. "Oh, one more thing!"
"Hm?"
"Please keep this discreet. This is a bit of a project I've been working on and I want it to be a surprise, so..."
Mr Suzuki smiled. "I understand, will do!"
I returned the smile. "Thanks."
"No prob. Come back in a week!
And with that, the middle-aged man drove my SA into the shop.
Ah, SA's finally getting an upgrade, I thought as I turned around, ready to leave.
Wait...
How am I supposed to go back now?!
-------------
Yes, I made it back... I thought as I collapsed myself onto my bed.
I'm lucky a taxi passed by, else I'd be stuck...
... What now?
I sat up. I do feel safe with my SA being parked at Suzuki Motors instead of being next to the camera store; the police won't notice for now. However, I'm not able to drive on Akina for the next week at least, so it will feel a bit boring.
I unlocked my desk drawer. Pulling it open, I took out my phone, turning it on for the first time in a while.
My lock screen, which was a picture of my SA, appeared after a few moments.
I checked my reception. No service.
As expected.
Unlocking my phone, I decided the only thing I could do is to pass time by looking through my files.
In my gallery, I looked for my "Favorites" album. Finding it easily, I browsed through the pictures and videos I had moved into the folder.
Different pictures of my friends with me and my SA appeared and passed. I smiled as I went through each of them.
You guys, I miss you all...
Coming to a particular picture, I stopped.
This was me standing right beside the legendary Keiichi Tsuchiya, at Tsukuba Circuit during an event. Behind us were our cars; my SA on my side, and the famous DK Hachi-Roku on his side.
Man, I remember this day!
On that Sunday, the Drift King actually sat in my SA and taught me a few new things while I went for 5 laps on Tsukuba. And boy, was he serious and unforgiving when it came to teaching me, but he was kind nonetheless.
"That's a bad line. Don't turn in so soon."
"Your downshifting is not consistent enough. Keep your brake at the same position, don't put too much pressure on it when you blip the throttle."
"Brake earlier! You overshot the apex, see."
"Kid, your differential is not good for grip! Use an open one! Old race cars have closed differentials, but they're not good enough today!"
Thinking back, I should've went for an open differential on the same day Mr Tsuchiya told me that.
Man, that was a good day.
Moving on, I soon reached a video. Not recalling what it is, I played it, interested in its contents.
"Damn it Nara! Like driver like car! Hahahaha!"
"W-what is this?! Oh my god! It fits you so perfectly!" another laughed.
Oh my god, I remember this now...
"First generation of the RX-7, I'm SA! Nice to meet you!" I heard myself say in an oddly-convincing feminine voice and saw myself strike a pose.
I couldn't help it, bursting into laughter.
This was the day I was forced to dress up as Syanago Collection's SA after losing a bet. Everyone has commented on how I looked perfect in that costume, and after seeing myself again, I agree.
Damn, I can totally pass off as a girl in that!
As I laughed at myself in the video, clad in the green, yellow and black costume, I couldn't help but miss those times.
Moving on, the next picture was of me as SA-chan, posing for the camera along with my friends.
Hey, that day was fun.
Moving on past the other pictures, I arrived at the earliest picture in the gallery.
It was a picture of Mr Yoshikawa and a younger me in front of the then-damaged SA.
I sighed, looking back at how far I had came from back then.
Time really flies, huh...
------------
"Thank you!" I bowed to a leaving car.
It's been about two days since my SA was sent to Suzuki Motors, and I still can't wait for five days to pass.
"Iketani! Oi, where did Iketani go?" the boss asked the three of us present just as I turned around to rejoin Takumi's and Itsuki's conversation.
"Huh? Iketani-senpai?" the young Fujiwara asked in his usual dreamy tone, a stark difference from when he drives.
"Oh, aha!" Itsuki joined in. "You mean Iketani, whose screams echoed across Akina as he rocketed down the three corners and passed out?!" he proceeded to scream.
I grinned, remembering that night.
"Iketani-senpai just left on a delivery, he took the truck," Itsuki told Mr Tachibana, abruptly back to his usual talking tone.
"I see..." was the reply. "If Iketani's not here, then maybe you can help, Takumi. Could you deliver some letters to the Yamada shop for me?" he asked, holding up some envelopes and some keys. "You can take my car."
"Oh, sure," Takumi replied, taking them and running towards the car as Itsuki observed, looking a bit jealous.
"Hey, boss," the chubby man stopped a walking-away Mr Tachibana as the young Fujiwara got into the Camry. "Um... you know, I have a license too. Why do you always ask Iketani and Takumi to run errands?"
"Well, you see," the boss turned around and folded his arms, "put your hand on your heart and tell me what you think."
"Uh..."
The chubby man literally put his left hand over his heart.
"Now do you understand?" Boss asked.
Itsuki put his hand down. "Nope."
"Simply put, I can trust Iketani and Takumi to drive. As for you, though, you'd bring my car back with a dent of your caved-in chest.
Itsuki jumped back, shocked.
I snickered quietly at the comment.
"Well, there you have it," the boss said, smirking to himself. "Hey, Nara, I need you to clean the garage up. It's not too dirty, so it'll be quick."
"Got it, on it!" I quickly replied. "I'll be right back, Itsuki!" I waved to the still-shocked chubby man as I headed over to the garage.
It took a while, but it was a short while to sort the gas station's garage out.
Alright, that's done, I thought as I walked out just as a black Nissan took its leave.
"Woah, BNR32!" I commented out loud, identifying the car easily.
Wait, I've seen that car before...
Turning my head, I noticed Itsuki just standing there, watching the GT-R leave.
"Hey, Itsuki, I'm done!" I called out as I jogged over. "Why do you look so shocked?"
"Oh no, I'm dead, Nara!" the chubby man yelled, panicking. "Tell me, what am I gonna tell Takumi?!"
"Tell Takumi about what?" I asked, confused, as a car honked twice as it came in.
Boss' Camry, with Takumi behind the wheel, stopped in front of Itsuki, who jumped back a bit.
"Takumi!" Itsuki yelled.
The young Fujiwara poked his head out of the driver's window. "What are you panicked about?"
"Uh, never mind that, I've got a question for you," Itsuki stammered, running over beside the car.
"Huh?"
"Say, if you're free this Saturday, want to go racing this Saturday?"
"No."
"Why not?"
"Sorry, but I don't drive a car unless it's absolutely necessary."
"Takumi, Nara!" Boss called out from inside, opening the glass door. "Thanks a lot, you two. Come in and have some coffee."
"Okay!" both of us replied at the same time.
The young Fujiwara went off to park the car.
I took one last look at the panicking Itsuki before walking towards the office.
Something's odd...
A final note for this chapter; just for your reference, this is Syanago Collection's SA.