Chapter 9 - New Beginnings
"Attention Passengers, we will be landing in Austria in about 7 minutes, please prepare for landing."
It was nearing night. Currently around 9:54.
Kenshin was just sitting there, watching tapes of Drifting, on his laptop. Kenshin too, was a drifter. He wasn't a pro. He preferred Kaido drifting over pro drifting. He wasn't that bad, actually. Studying the Touge roads in the morning. Drifting them at night. He even became pretty well known at it. His Levin was known as the
Purple Blur of Hiroshima
"Ah. . . Kaido. . . 'Twas a fun experience, maybe I should return to it sometime." , Kenshin thought to himself.
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A few minutes later, the plane landed at the airport. People got up, and began to exit, and enter the main building.
"So. . . Where am I supposed to go again?", Kenshin said, in his mind.
As he entered the main building, he noticed an area, a small room, which had a sign in front saying, "Super GT: Japan Drivers"
"Ah, that's it."
Kenshin walked over, and knocked on the door. Out came a man, probably in his Late 40's, Early 50's.
"Hello. You must be the new guy, Kenshin Sasakawa, right?", he said.
"You are correct."
"Ah! Hello Kenshin. Pleasure to meet you!", he shook Kenshin's hand, "I'm Keiichi Takeshi."
"Pleasure to meet you too!"
"Come on in, meet the other drivers.", said Keiichi.
As Kenshin walked in, he saw three drivers. One was sleeping, one was playing on a PSP, the other, reading.
The one who was sleeping is Osamu Takamoto
The one on the PSP is Nobuyuki Takahitoshi
The one who was reading is Yuki Shizuko
"Osamu!", Keiichi said, "Wake up!"
"Huh?", Osamu said, waking up,
"Oh."
"Come greet the new guy, he'll be racing you all this Super GT season". Keiichi replied.
Osamu walked over to Kenshin, and shook Kenshin's hand.
"Hello. I see you're the new guy. Well it's a pleasure to meet you! I'm Osamu Takamoto, the rookie of this group.", Osamu said, with a wink.
He seemed charismatic, considering it IS one of his traits.
"Ah, Hello. Kenshin Sasakawa, looking forward to your racing."
Another driver then walked up, and shook Kenshin's head.
"So you're the new guy, eh?! I'm Nobuyuki Takahitoshi! I'm very social and outgoing! Also, I must say, you look like you would be great for Super GT! Good luck!", said Nobuyuki, giving off a thumbs up.
"Ah, thank you! Does this mean I can talk to you whenever I'm lonely? Heh heh."
Then came up another man, who was obviously Yuki.
"Hello. . .", Yuki said.
Yuki was the silent, and smart type of person.
"Oh yeah!", Keiichi said, "I should have told you Yuki is the more quiet one, he doesn't talk much, but he knows quite a lot."
"Oh, okay, so, Yuki, tell me some information about yourself."
"Yuki Shizuko. . . The adroit racer of the Japanese Super GT Worldwide drivers. . ."
"Ah, interesting, nice to meet you!"
"So, are we all ready to go?", Keiichi asked.
They all answered yes, grabbed their luggage, and began to exit.
"So, where are we going?"
"To the Red Bull Hangar in a Limousine of course! You're going to meet other Super GT drivers there!", Keiichi answered.
"Ah, cool!"
As they reached the Limousine, they put their luggage in the trunk, and entered the limousine.
As they entered,
this song was playing.
"Hey, I know this song!"
"Eh? You do?", asked Keiichi, as he entered the drivers seat.
"Yeah! It's from Gran Turismo 3, I remember playing it when I was young, I loved it so much."
Suddenly, all of them started talking about Gran Turismo, except Yuki.
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Yuki was just sitting there, using his laptop. Kenshin found Yuki rather mysterious in certain ways.
Kenshin went over to Yuki, and said,
"So. . . What are you doing?"
"Something you might not be interested in. . ."
"Ah. . . Okay then."
Before moving back, Kenshin quickly looked at the laptop screen.
"Huh? Those calculations on his laptop?! What do they mean?! No doubt, this guy really is smart! No wonder he’s the most adroit.", he thought.
"Is something. . . Bothering you?", Yuki asked.
"Huh? Oh, no. It's fine. . . Just thinking about Super GT."
"Okay.", said Yuki in his faint voice, as he turned his head back to the Laptop.
"Hey Kenshin, check this out!", said Nobuyuki, with his head looking out the window.
Kenshin went over, and also looked out the window.
"Wow, that's huge!"
Through the window appeared the Red Bull Hangar, a huge, glass structure by Red Bull.
"Here we are boys, Red Bull Hangar!"
"It's indeed nice!", Osamu said, with an amused look.
"Agreed Osamu, agreed!", Nobuyuki replied.
"Mmmhhmmm."
Yuki just sat there, silently, still on his laptop.
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They arrived in the parking lot, in which Keiichi parked the limousine.
"Here we are!", said Keiichi, "Come on, let's get out."
They got out, and went to the trunk, for their luggage.
"Guys! You don't need your luggage, come on!"
They all felt like an idiot after the words that came out of Keiichi's mouth.
Keiichi began walking toward the building, and they followed.
"Wait. . . Yuki. . . He's still in the car."
Kenshin opened the door again,
"Yuki.", he said, "What are you doing in the car still, come on."
"It's fine.", he said,
"Go on in, I'll be there soon."
"Okay then."
Kenshin closed the door, then ran back to the group.
Once entering, Kenshin heard another interesting
song, once again.
"Hey! This us from the original Gran Turismo, I remember this game from when I was 5!"
"Ah, you do? You seem like a real GT fan if you recognize these pieces.", Keiichi said.
"Yes. . . Yes."
After doing a bit of looking around, a man with a Black suit walked toward Kenshin.
"Are you Kenshin Sasakawa?", the man asked.
"Yes, I am, why?"
"Follow me please, sir. I have something to show you.", he replied.
"What is it?"
"Why your new car, of course! What did you think would happen? Did you think I was trying to murder you or something? Don't go too crazy. . ."
"Oh, okay."
Kenshin followed the man to a less crowded side of the building.
Once they arrived to the car, Kenshin was amazed.
"Genki. . . Supra. . . This is mine?"
"Yup, feel free to take a look, it's a nice car."
He took a look around the car, every inch.
He then took a look at the interior.
"This interior. . . It's. . . Unique.", Kenshin said, amusingly.
"I can't wait to race in this!", Kenshin thought in his mind. He was as happy as a very young child when they get candy bars.
"
Kenshin! Hey Kenshin! Over here! They have a unique restaurant!", said Nobuyuki, screaming.
"Ah, okay."
They entered the restaurant, it was a nice, unique restaurant, as Nobuyuki said.
"Come on, let's get dinner.", said Nobuyuki.
"Dinner at 10 PM, interesting. . . Well, I haven't hada dinner-like meal yet, so sure!"
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"This Yakisoba is so good. I love this stuff!"
"No. No. This Stir fry is way better.", Nobuyuki replied.
"Heh heh, seems you two are really enjoying this cuisine. I must admit, very good tasting. Especially this Sushi."
Yuki just sat there, silently, eating Sushi, also.
"So. . . Kenshin. . . What do you plan on accomplishing this Super GT season?", Osamu spoke up.
"I would like to make it to the top 5 in the final standings."
"Really, that's interesting. You sure are ambitious. That's a tough job for a newbie."
"I know. . . But I have a feeling that this is very possible."
"Huh? Is that so? Well it's nice seeing a newbie like you. Most of the new guys to Super GT always demotivate themselves, saying such things as, 'Sigh, what am I thinking? How will I ever defeat these greater drivers?', and because of their demotivating toward themselves, they don't try hard enough, and they do fail. It's sad, but it happens."
"Ah, makes sense, I suppose."
They talked for a few minutes, then Keiichi walked toward them.
"C'mon guys, it's time to head back to the airport again.", Keiichi announced.
"Huh? Why? I thought we were racing. . ."
"We are! This was just a Super GT promotional event in which drivers meet, fans get autographs and merchandise, etc. We're now going to head to Indianapolis, where our first race will be held, there's even a surprise waiting for you there."
"Ah, okay."
They all got up, and headed back to the limousine.
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15 minutes later, they arrived back at the airport, and all headed to flight B-15 to Indiana, USA.
"Here we are, another lonely flight. . ."
Nobuyuki took the seat beside Kenshin.
"Hello!", he said.
"Hello."
"So. . . Looking forward to the race on Thursday."
"Yes, I am."
"
Ah, nice. So am I! So, want to stargaze?"
"Nah. Sorry, but I'm. . . Tired. . ."
"Ah, okay then."
Kenshin then shut his eyes.
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"Kenshin. Kenshin. Wake up!", Nobuyuki yelled.
Kenshin awoke, after Nobuyuki rapidly saying Kenshin's name
"Huh? Oh. Are we there?"
"Yup! Come on, let's go!"
"Hai."
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It was around 11:32 AM, in which Kenshin and the others had reached the hotel. It was huge, and looked rather luxurious.
"Wow. This is a. . ."
"Nice. . ."
"Hotel. . ."
"Here guys, I'll show you all your room."
Keiichi started walking to enter the hotel, and the luggage-men came out to grab their luggage.
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Their room was located on the 54th floor.
They exited the Elevator, and followed Keiichi again.
"Here we are, your room."
There was a sign over it notifying,
Royal Suite.
Keiichi grabbed the key out of his pocket, and unlocked the doors.
"Oh. Wow."
"Cool."
"Awesome!"
"Enjoy your stay guys", Keiichi said, as he threw the keys to Kenshin, and left.
"I'm going to love this!"
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Time passed, and they spent their time lounging.
Yuki reading.
Kenshin watching Anime.
Nobuyuki reading Manga.
Osamu watching Racing clips.
At around 1:23 PM, they got a call from Keiichi, telling them that they're going to head to Indianapolis for a brief event.
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Once arriving at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and taking a seat, they saw two men walk out.
One had a Red t-shirt and cap,
and the other,
had a purple beret and a T-shirt with a purple Gran-turismo Logo on it.
They were pushing a veiled Formula-style car out onto the track.
*Crowd and Drivers start murmuring*
A man quickly gives the men microphones.
Are you ready, Mal?
Yes John, Just as long as you can keep up with translations for our Japanese residents!
Hello Everyone!
みなさん、こんにちは!
The car under this veil will change racing history! Are you ready?
このベールの下の車はレースの歴史を変える!準備はいい?
The crowd gives off a はい! (yes!)
OK! Let's Go!
The two men unveil the car. It was a futuristic, formula one design
Red Bull X2010!
レッドブルX2010!
The crowd started to applaud.
The one with the Gran Turismo suit then got in the X2010.
"All right?! Are you all ready?!"
The crowd yelled a loud,
Yeah!
Then off he went, going ever so fast.
"So fast!"
"So nimble!
"So unique!"
"Ladies and gentleman. . . I present to you. . .The fastest car in the world!!!"
The crowd cheered, this thing truly was a great experience, especially for a certain quiet person, Yuki Shizuko.
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They arrived back to the hotel after that event, all of them with ammused looks on their faces. Yuki was still neutral, but in his mind, he was too, amused.
"Wow. . .", Kenshin thought,
"If Ryou were to see this, he just might have been amused also. . . . . Wait. . . Ryou! I wonder what he's up to currently.
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Meanwhile, Shiga Kusatsu, Shiga Prefecture, Japan
"Takishida. . ."
To be continued
Feels good to be back!
Also, sorry for the quality of the last few photo's, I was in a rush. . . I'll get better ones next time!