Chapter 17 - Riding Shotgun
“Yuka! You made it!”
”Hi Hitomi! Did I make it in time?”
”Yeah.”
Hitomi got into the Civic.
”What are you doing?”
”Riding shotgun with you. I want to see my little cousin drive!”
”Haha alright! Buckle up then!”
Yuka got in and set off towards the start.
Starting Grid
1. Grey Toyota Supra RZ
2. White Nissan Fairlady Z Z34
3. Black Subaru Legacy B4 Blitzen
4. White Mitsubishi GTO Twin Turbo
5. Yellow Nissan 300ZX X32
6. Silver Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X
7. Yuka’s Blue Honda Civic Type R
8. Black Nissan Skyline GT-R R33
9. Silver Subaru Impreza Sedan
10. Black Nissan Skyline GT-R R34
11. White Nissan Silvia 240RS
12. Black Toyota Celica GT-Four
“Fuji is a perfect track for a powerhouse like the Supra.”
“The 370Z is severely underestimated as a racing machine. Time to show everyone what the Z34 is about!”
“The hint is in the name. Blitzen. Lets see what these rear wheel drive punks can do against full time four wheel drive.”
“Fuji may favour the Supra, but the GTO is not to be messed with.”
“In a straight line, the 300ZX is still the best Z.”
“These are my roads. I’m the emperor here.”
“Show me what this Civic can do Yuka!”
”Okay!”
“Lets do this!”
“I may be outclassed by these high power cars, but that wont stop me from having some fun.”
“Fuji? The R34 was practically made for this.”
“That blue Civic ahead, didn’t we race at route 7 before?”
“I have rally pedigree and four wheel drive, both of which are useless here. What am I doing?”
“Lets go, Yuka!”
“Is this Evo slow or are you faster than I thought?”
”Much faster. Watch this.”
“What the?! I’m the emperor, you cant pass me!”
“I’m amazed Yuka.”
“You’ve done this before, haven’t you?”
“Your car control is superb.”
“It’s more the car than me.”
”Don’t be so modest!”
“Look at you! You’re pressuring the crap out of this Z!”
“Hitomi, you’re never this nice to anyone.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“You’re hiding something.”
“I am not!”
“Hitomi!”
”Okay fine!”
“I may have made a bet or two…”
“A bet or two?!”
“With who Hitomi?”
“The two guys in front. The 370Z and Supra.”
“And what did you bet?”
“Um…”
“It doesn’t matter anyway, just win and it’ll be fine.”
“It does matter!”
“Alright alright! Basically if they beat us, we have to date them.”
“What?!”
”It’s not so bad! You need a boyfriend anyway!”
”No I bloody well don’t!”
“And if we win?!”
”We win one million yen from each of them.”
”Is that it?!”
”I thought it was a good deal!”
”Aiya! What am I going to do with you?!”
“Are you angry with me Yuka?”
”Yes!”
“My bad Yuka. I don’t want to fall out with you.”
“Hitomi I appreciate that you’re trying to help, but I don’t like guys like you do.”
”What do you mean?”
“I don’t want a boyfriend. That’s all.”
“Yuka, is something wrong? I mean, every time I mention the word boyfriend, you snap at me.”
“Can we talk about this later? I just want to win and avoid this stupid bet you made.”
“Damn this Legacy! The Supra is way ahead now!”
“He’s as fast as me!”
“Oh crap…”
”No no no no no!!!”
“Okay Yuka, we can do this.”
”We?”
”Just put this bet aside for the moment and concentrate on racing.”
“Back in the US, whenever I faced someone who matched my straight line speed, I always would hold back on the straights and attack on the corners. The Corvette is different from the usual American sports car stereotype.”
“Whoa whoa whoa girl! Too close for comfort now!”
“You’ve got to use the corners to your advantage against cars like that.”
“You’ve got him Yuka! Keep the pressure on him!”
“Yeah! This is how my little cousin drives!”
“I’ve got this… I’ve got this.”
“I’ve been so wrapped up in my own feelings that I couldn’t think.”
“But now I realise, I can’t bottle it up anymore.”
“Yuka this isn’t the road!”
“I’m going to win no matter what, Hitomi.”
“Hey! Civic’s cant drive off road! What on earth are you doing?!”
“I wont lose!”
“Lap four Yuka.”
”I’ve got you, Supra.”
“Damn, I can’t lose this bet against those girls!”
“You can do it Yuka!”
”No, we can do it, Hitomi.”
“You’ve forgiven me?”
”Lets just win this bet and I’ll think about how you can pay me back afterwards.”
“Here’s your chance Yuka! Wait for the corner!”
“Don’t you pass me!”
“Come on Civic!”
“He has the power advantage but he wont lose me that easily!”
“Damn! On the start of the last lap as well!”
”That’s it Yuka!”
“One down, one to go.”
“We’re catching up Yuka!”
”We’re not close enough yet.”
“Crap. If Supra boy lost to her, I don’t rate my chances very highly.”
“I’ll keep pushing until the end!”
“Come on Z, it’s only a Civic, you can win, right?”
“Last turn! Don’t fail me Z!”
”Last turn! Go for it, Civic!”
“Gotta keep running!”
“Don’t you dare speed up any more!”
“We’re neck and neck Yuka!”
“Noooooooooo!”
“You won Yuka! You won you won you won!”
”Thanks Hitomi.”
”For what?”
”I’ll explain after I cool off a bit.”
Later on…
“So, ready to tell me what the thanks was for? One minute your mad at me, the next you’re rally driving and then you’re thanking me. I’m a bit confused, cousin.”
”I’m sorry Hitomi, it’s just… Sigh…”
”Yuka, you’ve always been the least girly out of our side of the family and you never were really interested in boys from the start. I understand that, but isn’t it time you thought about finding someone?”
”I did like a guy a few years ago and I even told him how I felt.”
”Really? So what happened?”
”He left.”
”Left? What do you mean?”
”Well after that night I never saw him again. He wouldn’t answer my calls or anything.”
”Oh… Well don’t worry about that, there’s other guys.”
”That’s not the point. I haven’t felt that way about any guy since then, but…”
”But what?”
”Kei…”
”Your friend? You… You like her?”
”She’s liked me for a long time already and we’ve even done it…”
”Yuka…?”
”All this time I’ve been hanging onto a small hope that he’ll come back, but I realise now that he isn’t coming back and never will come back. Kei’s always been there for me and I’ve been ignoring my feelings for her. I feel terrible!”
Yuka hugged Hitomi and cried on her shoulder.
”I’m sorry Yuka, I had no idea.”
“It’s okay, I didn’t expect you to think of me in that way.”
”Yuka, you need to tell her.”
”How? After pushing her away for so long…”
“Well…”
Later on…
Yuka arrived home and walked into the living room. Kei was looking on the internet for Daihatsu Copen’s for sale.
“Yuka! You’re back!”
“Hey Kei, what are you up to?”
“Looking at Copen’s. There’s so many nice ones. How was Fuji?”
”Good, I won and made a million yen.”
”Oh that’s great!”
Yuka walked up to Kei and grabbed her hand. Kei started blushing.
”Yuka?”
Yuka walked over to the bedroom, dragging Kei with her.
”Yuka! What are you doing? Hey!”
Yuka pulled Kei inside and shut the door.
“Yuka…”