-Y/n's POV (Two Days Later)-

"Phew..." I panted, sitting down for a second to catch my breath. I took a swig from my water bottle and wiped my forehead.

I was hiking on Mount Akina a bit this morning. It was nice and warm and the cool mountain breeze definitely helped. It was truly perfect weather. There were barely any clouds in the sky. It felt freaking wonderful. So much has happened so far. I was happy with where I was. I beat the Rotary Brothers' times the night before last, and I was elated. I was truly becoming a real popular street racer, well, in my mind at least. I haven't heard too many people talk about me yet, and you know what, maybe they won't. My dream was to become popular for being a good racer, but... beating the times on Akagi myself made me satisfied with where I was. Hell, I was so happy, I spent the entire day yesterday sleeping and relaxing. I never even left the damn house. I just ate, slept, and watched television all day. I also spent my time looking at car magazines and even messaging Rikka a bunch. Surprisingly enough, we got even closer over texting. She was such an amazing girl. I couldn't even stop thinking about her at times. I was too far in the trail of the mountain to get any good service, and I've been at it for a couple hours.

"Well... I think now's a good time to head back. I'm hungry, I wanna talk to Rikka, and I sure as hell need a shower and a change of clothes." I stood up and stretched my arms and legs out before walking back to my home.

It took a while, but I arrived at my beautiful place. When I walked inside, I drank the rest of the water I had left and threw it away before walking upstairs to shower. I hummed and sang to myself while I scrubbed my hair full of shampoo.

"Man.. I could use some more gas as well as a trip to see Iori. I wanna tell him the good news. Maybe I should bring Rikka along. Heh... She'll probably wanna see what he's working on since she likes cars and whatnot." After a bit more scrubbing, I rinsed my hair off...

"AH CRAP, I GOT SHAMPOO IN MY EYES!!! IT STINGS!!!"

...

...

...

After my shower, I got dressed in my casual clothing. I went back to the living room to check on my phone. I wasn't able to see her messages earlier on the hike, but now I'm able to. I opened up to see three messages. The first one was asking me about what I was doing. The second one told me that she was free all day if I wanted to hang out with her or something. And the third one was about her wondering if I was asleep.

"That girl..." I sighed happily with a light chuckle at the end. "Guess I'll give her a message."

I messaged her, telling her about how I was hiking earlier, asking if she wanted to hang out, and if I could pick her up at her place to do so. Within a few minutes, she messaged back. She agreed on me picking her up at her house. I smiled to myself as I was going to able to see her again.

-Rikka Hachiya's POV-

"Dad!"

"Yes, sweetie?" He sat on the couch reading a book on European cars.

"Y/n's Coming over to pick me up again. We're going to hang out today." I grinned happily.

"This boy..." He put his book down and aimed his gaze at me.

"Huh?"

"...You seem to be talking a lot about him since you ran into him at the convenience store a while ago."

"Yeah. I told you earlier that we went to school together, so I was really happy to see him again and we got each other's numbers recently too."

"...Do you like this boy?" That was a question I kinda knew he was going to ask, but at the same time, I didn't really expect it. I could play the fun game and go with that I like him as a friend, but... I guess that would be kinda like lying. I... did like him. I wouldn't say it started back in school, but we grew closer as friends there. After these past several days, I don't know... Seeing him again and talking with him and getting to know even more about him, made me feel happy. I was happy when I was around him. I loved seeing him get so pumped for racing or getting his car tuned up by Mr. Sakamoto down at the shop. He always made funny jokes in school and always did his best. He's the kind of guy I would wanna be with. "Rikka?"

"Oh... Yeah.. I do.. I like him a lot, actually." Hearing me say this, he grew a smile.

"You said he was the one who beat you on Usui correct?"

"Mhmm."

"And you still want to be with him even after that."

"Of course. Me being beaten by him in a race doesn't mean anything about our friendship. If anything, it made us closer as friends. I wanna support him throughout his rise in popularity and his skill in street racing. I want him to be able to beat Project D one day."

"Then follow your heart, Rikka. Stick with him. I think he might lead you to something."

"Lead me to something?"

"Lead you to what you want to do in your life. Your dream." He put his book back up and kept reading, pushing his glasses up on his face.

"My dream..." I stood there thinking to myself for a bit. I still didn't know exactly what I wanted to do in my life. I had the option of going pro, but I decided not to do that... I have an idea about going to a university to study and become an engineer for cars, or even Iori told me I could become a master mechanic If I were to work under him. I had plenty of ideas in my head that I had to choose from for my life...

"I suggest you put on better clothing than shorts and a tank top." Hearing him say this, I snapped out of my thinking state and quickly ran to my room to get better dressed for the occasion. I put on some casual clothing, thinking more about Y/n.

"I... like... Him..." I thought out loud. There was a lot to think about in that regard. "Should I tell him? Should I wait for him? Wait does he even like me back?"

I shook my head and sighed.

"I guess the time will come when it does." I smiled happily.

-Y/n's POV (Several Minutes Later)-

I finally pulled up to her house and she stood at the front door with a grin on her face. Behind her was her father, I assumed at least. He looked me straight in the eyes and nodded. I gave him a reassuring smile and a nod, knowing what he was saying without words. He pushed up his glasses and turned around, walking back inside while closing the door behind him as Rikka walked over to my car. She opened the door and got in, strapping herself in.

"Hey Rikka." I smiled, looking at her.

"Hello." She grinned right back at me with that adorable smile of hers. "How're you doing?"

"I'm doing alright. How about you?"

"I'm doing great actually." She giggled. "So where are we off to today?"

"I'm going to get some gas first if that's alright. I haven't refilled since before the Akagi timed trials the other night."

"Oh! That's no problem."

"Are you sure? I kinda feel bad for having to drag you along on errands before actually doing something fun."

"No-No. It's okay. I enjoy going to places with you even if it's just to get gas or something. It gives us more time to talk."

"Alright then. Off to the gas station!" I yelled and drove on.

We drove a bit around and talked to each other until we hit the gas station. I pulled into the gas line and as per usual, Itsuki and Iketani came jogging over. Rikka and I got out of the car.

"Well, well, well. If it isn't The Blue Wave of Gunma." Iketani gave a grin to the both of us while looking at me.

"Blue Wave of Gunma?" I was generally and genuinely confused. I had no clue what he was talking about. "What do you mean?"

"He's talking about you, dude!" Itsuki cheered.

"Yeah, not only me, but everyone around in the street racing scene. We all know about you beating the Takahashi's times on Akagi." Iketani added. Hearing that surprised me. I couldn't believe it. I was being talked about. "Not only that, you've been beating all the other times and number ones on the other passes besides Akina. After hearing and learning about you more, people have been calling you the Blue Wave. You drive a blue Impreza and you've been taking over the passes in Gunma like a wave. Hence, The Blue Wave of Gunma."

"You're pretty damn cool! You're really starting to remind us of our buddy Takumi. When he started street racing last year, he was a lot like you. He climbed the ranks and became street famous, then he joined Project D." Itsuki added along,

Rikka immediately smiled and looked at me.

"Y/n! You've become the talk of the town!...Ehhh...Prefecture!" She started to cheer. I was finally becoming popular over my feats during the past couple weeks. I beat Takeshi Nakazato on Myogi and his time, I beat Rikka Hachiya on Usui and Mako/Sayuki's time, and then I beat both of the Takahashi Brother's times on Akagi. It felt amazing. I couldn't be happier. I started daydreaming about hearing people around me going 'Oh my god, is that The Blue Wave of Gunma?' or 'Damn, It's the Blue Wave of Gunma! Look at his incredible WRX and his stunning looks! I wish I was as cool as him!'

Man I was super excited.

"That he has." Iketani adjusted his hat. "So who's this? Is this that girl you've been talking about?"

I snapped out of my fantasy daydream.

"Oh! Guys! This is Rikka Hachiya. Rikka, this is Iketani and Itsuki." I introduced them to each other. Rikka bowed to them.

"Ni-Nice to meet you two."

"Nice to finally meet you as well." They both bowed to her too. "Y/n, don't forget what we said."

"Huh?"

"Street racers don't need girlfriends." They whispered to me.

"She's not my girlfriend." I whispered back. "Yet..."

They both cleared their throats as Rikka looked a bit confused.

"So, what are you needing? High octane I assume?"

"Yep! I haven't had a fill since before the Akagi runs."

"Alright." He started filling up my tank with gas. "So, how did you even get them done in one night? You would've needed more gas and practice beforehand to be able to pull off beating the Takahashi brothers' times all in one night."

"Oh, well, before my dad got sick and all, he taught me how to race on all the passes in Gunma. I also did my own practice here and there on the other courses too, even though my home course is Myogi. Basically, I used what I learned on Akagi from him and myself and I put It to work doing the timed trials. Luckily, it paid off." I explained.

"Damn dude. You're so cool." Itsuki starting fantasizing in his head. "Just wait till you meet Takumi. I'm sure you two would be good friends."

"I agree with Itsuki. Though, if you were to race him, you'd think otherwise. He'll whoop your ass in a downhill, no sweat." Iketani explained.

"Damn. You guys have been saying so many great things about him. I hope I meet him someday."

"I hope it's not with Project D on your ass because of your recent wins and record breaks."

"Yeah, I wouldn't wanna meet him as an opponent with the Rotary Brothers on my ass." I laughed.

"There's no way you could beat either of Project D's double aces. They are beyond godly." Itsuki said with a chuckle.

"Huh?! I think he can!" Rikka was a bit frustrated with Itsuki's statement. "I think he has the skill and speed to take them on."

"Sorry, Rikka, but Itsuki's right. They're super top tier from what I've heard from you and plenty of other people."

"You shouldn't think like that Y/n." She looked over to me, concerned.

"Nah, I know me and my car's limits. My car can only go so fast and my skills can only be so well honed. One day maybe, but not anytime soon."

"....Alright." She lowered her head with a sigh. Iketani removed the hose from my tank and put it back in the pump.

"There you are, all filled up." Iketani stated. I gave him the money and hopped in the car with Rikka, rolling my window down after starting her up.

"Thanks guys."

"Ah, don't mention it. What're you both about to go do?" Itsuki asked.

"We're about to figure that out." I smiled.

"You two have a good one." They waved. She and I drove out of the gas station and back on the road after hearing, "Thank you for your business!" from Itsuki. We drove around a bit, just having small talk.

"So where do you wanna go, Rikka? I was planning on going to see Iori, but I decided not to. He's a busy man and I don't wanna bug him everyday."

"I was thinking..."

"About?"

"The beach."

"The beach? You know that's kinda far."

"I know. It was just an idea." She shrugged.

"To be honest though....I'm not against it." Hearing this, she gasped.

"Really?!"

"Well, we don't have any clothes for swimming or anything."

"We don't have to swim. We can just get our feet wet or something and build sandcastles or just take a walk!" She grinned happily. I sighed in a good manner and shook my head.

"Alright then. To the beach we go!"

"YESSS!!" She cheered.

"Silly girl." I muttered under my breath with a chuckle.

...

...

...

It took a while to get to the beach, but we made it in one piece. It was pretty. The water was crystal blue and the sun made it look even more beautiful. There were tons of people as it was the middle of summer. Kids were playing around with their floaties in the water, surfers trying to catch that perfect wave, and adults lounging around in the sun, drinking or playing volleyball. It was a great sight to see. I parked the car and got out. We stretched our extremities after the drive.

"Ah, the sun feels so nice~! I love the sounds of the waves and the smell of the ocean, too~!" Rikka stretched her back will breathing in deeply.

"Yeah. What a perfect day, huh?"

"Definitely." We both went down to the sand and water and boy did it feel nice. I had the chance to spend the whole day with Rikka and I sure as hell wasn't going to waste it. "So what are we gonna do first, Y/n?"

"How about feeling the water?"

"Great idea!" We immediately took off our shoes and socks and put them to the side and walked over to the water. The smallest waves ran over our feet. The water was cold, but it felt nice since it was a hot day. "Oh my gosh, the water feels amazing. I wish I brought my swimwear."

"Yeah, but it's all good. We have other things we can do here..." I turned my head to the right to look a bit down the beachside. "Like get some ice cream."

"Ice cream?" She asked as I pointed over to a little ice cream shack. She gasped and smiled and started running over there. I only laughed and followed, running behind her. When I finally caught up to her at the shack, she was already ordering. "Can I get a scoop of vanilla please!"

I walked up next to her, holding the amount of money for two cones of ice cream.

"Make that two of those. One for me and one for her, please." I handed the guy the money. She looked over at me with a flushed face. She lowered her head in embarrassment, but had a small smile. He handed me both of the ice cream cones and I handed one of them to her. "Here you go."

"Th-Thanks." She and I walked back over to where our shoes were and sat down in the dry sand to eat our ice cream. God I wish I could do this more with her. She was so cute and so awesome, I just couldn't help but feel so happy around her.

"After we're done with these, wanna go for a walk down the beachside, maybe look for shells if there are any good ones around?"

"Sure." She beamed at me with a cute grin. After a couple minutes, we both finished our ice cream and got up, dusting the sand off ourselves. We picked up our shoes and socks and carried them with us as we walked down the beachside. It was interesting to see what other people were doing on the beach, though, we kept our eyes to the ground, looking for good shells to pick up.

-Meanwhile, at the Gas Station... (Iketani's POV)-

"Man, Itsuki, that guy is so lucky." I sighed, taking off my hat to let my hair catch a breeze.

"Tell me about it. That girl is so cute. I'd take her myself If I could." Itsuki sighed as well. Suddenly, Mr. Tachibana walked outside.

"Jeez, it is hot out here." He said, using a magazine to fan himself.

"Yep...And it's only gonna get hotter throughout the summer."

"Did the Impreza come by?" He asked Itsuki and I.

"Yep. A while ago I'm afraid. He and his soon-to-be girlfriend are out at the beach right now."

"Shoot, why do I always miss the chance to meet the guy?"

"Maybe because you're the boss and you're always busy inside?" Itsuki answered him with another question.

"Yeah, that makes sense." He sighed in a sad manner.

"Well, boys, I'm unfortunately going to have to head back inside. You keep doing your work and maybe I'll let you end early. If something crazy happens, just get me." He walked back inside the gas station.

"You got it boss."

"Yes sir, Mr. Tachibana."

...

...

...

Several minutes passed and not much has happened. We had a couple cars come through and leave after getting their fills. Nothing really exciting happened until suddenly a familiar but different yellow RX-7 FD came into the line. We were stunned to see how cool it looked. We looked in the drivers seat to see who it was and funny enough... It was none other than Keisuke Takahashi himself. He stopped at the pump and got out.

"Holy crap dude, that's Keisuke Takahashi!" Itsuki whisper yelled to me.

"What's he doing here? He should be with Project D." I did the same back. We both awkwardly waddled up to him with a bit of sweat on our faces. When we walked up, he looked over to us.

"High octane." He said.

"You got it." I immediately got started on pumping fuel into his car. "S-So.. How's Project D going? I heard you guys pulled a win recently against some guys in Evos."

"Tch, pricks." I heard him growl under his breath before speaking up. "Yeah. They put out an oil slick on a corner to screw over my FD. I ended up crashing her front left bumper. I had to use another person's FD to win. Though we got my baby patched up and she's better than ever."

"Yeah. It looks sick, definitely different than when we last saw it on Akina. It looks more professional."

"Oh right, you guys are Takumi's friends. I think you drive an S13 and I don't remember you having a car." He looked at me, then Itsuki respectively.

"I'll have you know, I now have an Eight-Five with a Turbo." Itsuki said with courage. Keisuke gave a light chuckle.

"That's neat kid. Now listen. I have a couple questions I need to ask you two." His demeanor became more serious. Itsuki and I gulped in nervousness.

"Y-Yeah? What's up?"

"Do you know anything about an Impreza beating me and my brother's record on Akagi the other night?" He asked us. I couldn't believe it. I was surprised he found out so soon. I tried to keep quiet and think of a way out of this. I had no clue what was going on in Itsuki's head but I hope he will..

"Yep! Actually, he's a friend of ours!" Itsuki blurted out with a dumb, confident smile.

'ITSUKI!!! YOU AND YOUR STUPID MOUTH!!' I mentally told myself with a furious face.

"Oh? Can you tell me more about him? Like where he is normally? His home course? His team?" He asked, not losing his serious mood. I sighed in defeat.

"Looks like we have no choice... First off, he drives alone. He doesn't have a team. Though, recently he's been with Rikka Hachiya of Usui Pass. They're pretty close friends. Second, his home course is Myogi. He normally comes here for his high octane though."

"Interesting. Anything else?"

"Since he beat you and your brother's times, he really has nothing else to do, so he's probably sticking to Myogi for a while." Itsuki added.

"Is he not going to try to beat Takumi's time on Akina?"

"He was originally planning on it, but we warded him off of it since we know Takumi's time was unbeatable after he raced your brother a while back." I explained. He put his hand to his chin. I took the pump out of his car as it was finished.

"Okay." He smiled, closing his eyes before opening them again. "Alright. Thanks for giving me all the information I needed."

He paid us for the gas and opened his car door, about to sit down.

"Hey...uh...Keisuke?"

"What is it?" He looked back at us.

"What are you going to do?" Itsuki asked him. I was also curious...and worried.

"I'm surprised you don't know the answer to that question. My brother wants to meet him, and I want to race him. If he can beat our times, he must be good. And if he's as good as I think, then we as Project D needs to take him down. Plus, I got a bone to pick with him since he beat our times." He got into his car. "Thanks again for the gas."

We watched as his car drove on down the road. Itsuki ran up to the front and bowed.

"Thank you for your business!!" He yelled with a nervous voice crack. He walked back over to me with sweat all over his face. Not going to lie, I felt bad too. We both knew what was happening:

Project D was looking for The Blue Wave.

...

...

...

-Back to Y/n's POV-

"Dang..." I sighed. "Shame we couldn't find anything good on the entire walk and back."

"Yeah. I'm really surprised. Oh well. I'm ready to head back home if you are. It's getting kinda late and my dad will be worried."

"I know, I can feel it. I saw him behind you when I stopped at your house to pick you up. He seemed the type."

"He's very nice and caring. He also taught me how to race." She grinned.

"He seems cool."

"He totally is." We walked back to my Impreza after washing and drying our feet off and putting our socks and shoes back on.

The drive back was kinda quiet. It confused me a bit, cause I thought she would bring something up to talk about, but she kinda just kept to herself. I sure as hell couldn't think of anything to talk about. When we got back to her place, it was almost dark, but not too late.

"Well, that's it. What a fun day, huh?"

"Y-Yeah... I enjoyed it a lot." She started fumbling with her words a bit.

"Are you okay?"

"Oh! Yeah. I'm alright." Her face became a bit flustered.

"I.. Guess I'll see you soon, then?"

"W-Wait..."

"Hm?"

"I... wanna... I wanna tell you something." She fidgeted with her fingers, losing her words as she talked. She got quieter.

"Yeah... What's... up?" I looked at her as she looked up at me. Her eyes looked into mine. I was really confused and worried about what she was going to say. Was this a confession? Was she going to say some super big secret of hers? Was she going to say that she actually didn't enjoy our time out today? I was thinking of every thing she could say until she said it...

"Y/n..... I love you!" She braced herself as she said it, closing her eyes hard and looking down at the shifter. I was shocked. My brain decided not to really take in her confession at first. So I had to ask again.

"What?"

"I... think I love you... okay?" She opened her eyes and slowly looked back into my eyes. Her face was still red with embarrassment. That's when I realized. This was it. She.. She liked me. This was her confession. I honestly thought I was gonna be the first one to do it. My heart started getting warmer and warmer and my face became flushed like hers. "You're really kind and super cool. I love being around you. It makes me happy. You always care about others around you. You always try your best on everything and have so much courage and confidence to do things I sure as heck couldn't do. You always know what's right and know how to deal with situations, especially back in school. You're such a good driver and racer and I wanna be there to support you. I... I wanna be with you.... Y/n."

I listened as she poured her heart out to me. It felt nice hearing what she was saying about me. I put a large grin on my face and said:

"I love you too... Rikka." Hearing me say this. Her eyes widened in shock at first, but they soon went back to their normal resting position as she gave me the cutest smile. "You're unbelievably cute and sweet and have a great personality. You're a blast to hang out with and I really cant stop thinking about you when you're not around sometimes. You're also an incredible driver too. You almost had me on our race the other night. I was astonished. You're smart, you're funny. I love your passion for learning about cars. You have everything I would want in a girl."

"Y/n..."

"Rikka..." We started leaning closer to each other. We closed our eyes. Suddenly, I heard a light knock on the hood of my car. We stopped what we were doing and looked at the front of my car to find her dad standing there. We quickly jumped from the sudden interruption from her farther. "Well.. That happened... I guess were a couple now... huh?"

"Yeah. I'll.. see you later."

"I love you."

"I love you too." She got out of the car and went inside with her father and I was left there alone with a smile on my face. I cheered loudly within my car.

"I'm gonna do a victory uphill on Myogi. I'm totally in the mood to rip and tear the roads right now." I said confidently. I then drove on to Myogi.

...

...

...

-Later That Night on Mount Myogi... (Keisuke Takahashi's POV)-

We all stood at the top of Myogi and waited. Me, Takumi, Fumihiro, Matsumoto, Tamiguchi, Kenta, and my brother. Fumihiro, Takumi, Matsumoto, and Ryosuke were standing while Kenta and I were leaning against one of the Mazda Bongos. Tamiguchi was inside one of the Bongos talking to his family.

"Are you sure he'll be here?" Fumihiro asked. "I hear a car driving up a ways down the mountain, but what are the odds it could be him?"

"It sounds like an EJ Engine." Ryosuke said, looking over to Fumihiro, replying to his question.

"Some of Takumi's buddies at the gas station told me he drives here and that this is his home course." I added along. Takumi perked up a bit once I mentioned his friends.

"Oh. You asked Iketani and Itsuki about him?" He asked me.

"Yeah. They gave me all the info I needed."

"I wonder what he's like." Matsumoto put his hand to his chin in thought.

"If he's friends with Rikka, he's likely around her age or maybe a bit older I'd assume... I hope." I said.

"If I may ask, who's Rikka again? I remember you telling me, but I forgot." Takumi interrupted. Though I couldn't blame him. He did race Impact Blue before they went pro and didn't hear much about them since.

"After Impact Blue went pro, they made someone else be the next best of the course. That was Rikka, likely one of their friends." I explained to him.

"Oh, alright."

"If anything, I don't know how he's gonna be. I'm hoping he's understanding and nice. Those guys in the Evos left a bad taste in my mouth." Fumihiro looked up into the night sky.

"Tell me about it. I hope he's mature and smart and not like Takumi when we first met him." I looked up at the sky as well. Takumi then perked up once more and looked at me.

"What's that supposed to mean?" He asked curiously and in a concerned fashion. Ryosuke cracked a smile and chuckled a bit as well as the rest of us. Takumi was left a bit confused, but decided to laugh along.

"Don't sweat it, Takumi." I sighed. The sounds of the car got closer and closer by the second. I could tell it was about to turn the last corner. Suddenly, I saw headlights appear around it as it slowly made its way up the long straightaway. "He's here."

We all watched as he came closer to us and stopped, turning off his car. We turned our heads over to the blue Impreza as I got up from leaning on the support van. The guy inside the car opened the door and got out, closing it afterwards. He then walked over to us. As the lights beamed onto him more, his figure became more easier to see. My eyes widened when I realized, he looked about the same age as Takumi.

"A kid?" I mumbled under my breath. "You freakin' serious?"

-Back to Y/n's POV-

I kept walking over to these people. I didn't really know who they were. Didn't know if they were in a team, or if they were all separate. I couldn't see well since it was so dark out and their lights were really bright, until I got close enough. I was able to see a Yellow RX-7 FD, a White RX-7 FC, a Panda AE86 Trueno, and a couple Mazda Bongos. I was confused about the vans as they are normally not a thing to bring up here to race in.

"Why are there vans? Don't tell me the people who drive the vans are racers too." I said to myself quietly. I squinted my eyes and looked at the side of one of the vans. It read.... PROJECT D... Suddenly, I realized... This was them... The top dogs in street racing. The elites. The untouchables. The ones who never lose. I didn't know what I felt, but it sure as hell wasn't a good feeling. My hands started shaking a bit and my heart started pounding. I was sweating. I was scared. How in the hell did they know so soon? Were they going to beat me up? Were they going to challenge me? Should I run? So many things went through my head at that moment. I slowed my breathing and gulped before taking one deep breath. I walked up, confident and ready for the worst.

"Ah... H-Hello." I said very awkwardly. I mentally facepalmed. One of them came forward, a guy in a red shirt and black hair.

"Greetings. How are you?"

"I'm... alright. A bit worried and scared, maybe even intimidated already, but I'm okay." I nodded to him. The man chuckled a bit and smiled.

"I'm sorry. We don't mean to intimidate you or anything." He waved it off. "Let me introduce myself. I'm Fumihiro. This is Ryosuke and Keisuke Takahashi; and this is Takumi Fujiwara. This over here is Matsumoto. Tamiguchi is in one of the support vehicles and Kenta is over there leaning on one. We're Project D."

I watched as he presented his comrades.

"As you may know, we're an expeditionary team that's been setting out to the other prefectures to race their best. Ryosuke is the leader while I'm the second in command. Keisuke is the uphill specialist while Takumi is the downhill specialist. Matsumoto and Tamiguchi help with tuning the cars and Kenta is the scout. It's nice to meet you." Fumihiro introduced them all to me and told me what their purposes were. When I heard Takumi's name, I remembered that Itsuki and Iketani talked about him a lot. I also went down and met his dad at the tofu shop. He was the best... but he looked my age, if not a hair older.

"It's nice to meet you all as well." I bowed in front of them as they were all older than me. "My name is Y/n L/n. I'm originally from (Country), and I moved here several years back."

I stood back up straight. They were all quiet as Ryosuke Takahashi, the leader of Project D, stepped forward and looked right at me. I could feel his gaze pierce every part of me like he was trying to figure out every little detail of me or piece every bit of me together. He didn't say anything as he kinda kept what he was thinking in his mind.

"So you're the one who beat our records, huh?" Keisuke Takahashi asked me, stepping forward next to his brother.

"Y-Yeah..." I said nervously, scratching the back of my head.

"Y'know, I was expecting someone a bit... Older maybe?"

"I think we both know that some people aren't always as they seem, Keisuke." Ryosuke looked over to his younger brother before he put his gaze back on me. "Can I ask you why you beat our times?"

"I...uh..."

"I seriously wanna know. I was surprised someone even attempted them let alone actually beat them." Kenta spoke up. He got up from leaning on the van and walked over to Keisuke and Ryosuke. "If you're a street racer, you should know who you're dealing with when it comes to Akagi. Ryosuke and Keisuke are the best on the pass and trying to beat their times is like picking a fight with not only Project D, but with the RedSuns as well."

"Kenta, why are you bringing up the RedSuns? Bro disbanded the team when Project D was formed. Anything before Project D is history now." Keisuke said while crossing his arms. "Though, that doesn't speak for Bro and I personally. We do take pride in our times on Akagi, which is why I also wanna know, Why'd you do it?"

After hearing Keisuke ask, I grew a small smile and looked down to the ground.

"I... did it for a number of reasons actually. I guess the biggest reason is that I wanted to become popular as a street racer. I wanna have the thrill of just being known around Gunma for being super good at street racing. My dad used to teach me before he became hospitalized about a year and a half ago. I wanted to become cool and popular so I could make him proud. That's another reason. The last thing I can think of is that with each step I take in street racing, I can improve myself and become something far greater than what I was thinking; Maybe go pro someday." I explained to them. I put my heart into what I said to them. When I looked up, Keisuke looked a bit shocked as I guess he wasn't expecting what I told him; So was Kenta and the rest of them. The only one without a shocked expression was Ryosuke, who had a small grin.

"After hearing about all you've done throughout Gunma from Fumihiro, I've decided to postpone our next expedition to Ibaraki and come here. We as Project D would like to challenge you to a race. The parameters are whatever you'd like them to be, within reason of course. You can choose where, you can choose when, and with whom you want to race with." Ryosuke proposed. Keisuke's mood became more serious and frustrated.

"I..." I started to say.

"No..." Keisuke interrupted, looking over at his brother.

"Hmm?"

"I don't like that. I want to challenge him on his home course. I don't want this to be for Project D. I want to make this personal. Bro, you of all people should realize that this isn't Project D's business. It's ours."

"You tell him Keisuke." Kenta led him on. Ryosuke thought for a minute, closing his eyes.

"For once, you do make a point." He opened his eyes and glared at me. "Even though I'm impressed that you were able to beat our times, especially mine, I feel slightly humiliated because of it. For that, I guess we can make it personal. Do you wish to race him Keisuke, or would you like me to?"

"I will. I worked tirelessly to get the time I had on Akagi. I haven't even had the time to go back and do better since I've improved with Project D; Even more so now that my car's been upgraded. I want to race him personally." Keisuke said, turning his look back to me.

"Very well then."

"So, this weekend, we're going to be here on Myogi, waiting for you. You can show up whenever you're ready this weekend. It's Tuesday now, so it'll give us both plenty of time to practice." He officially challenged me. This coming weekend, he and I were going to have a race. I immediately got scared again. I had a small smile on my face to keep them from knowing I was scared. I had to show a bit of confidence. He sighed. "Do you accept?"

"I....uhh..." Inside, My heart was beating out of my chest. I felt so intimidated by them, but.. they seemed kind of chill too. It was really confusing and I couldn't really piece it together. I didn't know what to say. If I was gonna race them, I knew I wouldn't win. I'd lose. These guys are something else entirely. If I say no, they would just not have it and force the race on me; That, or degrade me for refusing. I felt trapped. So I said what I had to with a fake grin on my face: "I accept your challenge."

"That settles it. I'll see you this weekend."

"It was nice meeting you. I wish you luck on your practice." Ryosuke said before turning around with his brother. Fumihiro stepped forward and bowed to me.

"Thank you for your time. It was a pleasure meeting you. We'll see you again this weekend." He turned around and went back. I walked back to my car and got inside. I sat there and thought. Project D's cars and vans all went around me and back down the mountain and left me alone there. So many things were going through my head at once, but the biggest thing I could think of, is that:

I was in trouble.