For @seekingseven; I am so so SO sorry for my tardiness with your Christmas present! Life got in the way but I’ve come up with your request :) I went off your request and decided to include as many people as possible, so here’s the Project D and Todo School gangs hanging out:
“... and that’s how I decided never to let Sudo arrange a blind date for me ever again,” Tachi concluded before taking another swig of his drink.
Keisuke guffawed before asking, “You’re serious? The girl wanted,” he paused to suggestively gesture which elicited groans from Ryosuke, Fumihiro, and Matsumoto, “over the hood of your EK9?”
Tachi could only nod with an exasperated expression. Along with him were Daiki and Smiley on either side of him in lawn chairs. The Project D crew was present as well, haphazardly taking a seat wherever they could find one out in front of the Tudo School. The summer night breeze maintained what Takumi considered to be the Holy Grail of Temperatures; not too hot where you’re sweating your ass off but also not too cold where you’re constantly two shivers away from keeling over due to hypothermia. Coupled with the view of the mountains, Takumi noticed that it was rather peaceful and he idly considered how he’d love to have a view like this back home.
“Say, Takumi,” Ryosuke spoke as the group focused their attention on the mastermind behind Project D, “how’s the Impreza treating you?”
Takumi took a drink of his juice (he was just a year shy of the drinking age but Ryosuke refused to hand him any alcohol as if said minor didn’t break the law on a nightly basis by racing up and down Mount Akina) before answering, “It’s going good. I think I’m getting the hang of it, Dr. Joshima’s single-hand steer goes well with the 4WD.”
“An Impreza?” Smiley asked, whistling in appreciation. “I test-drove my cousin’s the other day and it’s a sweet ride.”
“It’s very stable,” Takumi offered. A car drove past the group and its headlights briefly washed over everyone before continuing its steady meander up the slope. He cleared his throat before continuing, “The air conditioning is also better than my Eight-Six’s.”
“Don’t get me started on that,” Daiki mock-threatened, jumping into the conversation. “I’m 90% sure Mr. Todo screwed with it since I’ll put it on full blast and it does jack shit. Probably for ‘better efficiency,’ knowing him,” he grumbled.
Smiley suddenly snickered and the look on his face suggested that he must’ve remembered something. “Wait, I don’t think I told you guys about The Beetle Incident from a few months ago-”
“Smiley, no-” Daiki pressed as a blush manifested across his cheeks.
“Smiley, yes,” Keisuke smirked as he leaned forward in his chair, eager to hear this story. Ryosuke pointedly looked at Keisuke while wearing his patented Disappointed-Older-Brother Stare and Takumi noted how Fumihiro and the mechanics rolled their eyes upon noticing Ryosuke’s expression.
Smiley set his drink aside before beginning his narration. “So we’re practicing out on the pass, yeah?” The others sans Daiki, who’d taken quite an interest in the cracked asphalt underneath his feet, nodded. “Daiki’s out in front, with his windows down by the way,” Smiley noted. “Anyway, I’m chasing him when we get to one corner and he just,” he wildly gestured, “went all over the place. Anyway, I overtake him and when we get back to the School he jumps out of his car clawing at his face, and runs inside screaming-”
Daiki interrupted. “I was not screaming, you bastard-”
“-And I finally get a look at his face and there’s this massive fucking beetle on his cheek,” Smiley cringed as he remembered the vile nature of that creature. “He’s screaming at Mr. Todo to get it off and when he got it off there was this nasty fucking juice-”
“I’m gonna stop you right there,” Tachi interrupted, noticeably green in the face as he put his drink down.
“I second that notion,” Tomiguchi said as he grimaced, quickly tucking a stray lock of his hair behind his ear.
“Anyway, that’s why Daiki refuses to roll the windows down anytime he drives,” Smiley concluded.
“For good reason!” Daiki cried. “That thing was fucking scary, I nearly pissed my pants!”
Takumi decided that a change of topic was in order (and thinking about the bug in question was also beginning to mess with his stomach as well). “Is anyone hungry?”
“Someone finally said it!” Keisuke said. He leaned back in his seat and huffed in relief. “I’m starving, Fujiwara.”
“I suppose it’s a good time for a nighttime snack,” Ryosuke considered.
“I know a good place to eat,” Tachi suggested. “But they don’t do delivery and they’re down the mountain.”
Fumihiro spoke up. “If you guys know what you want, I could take your orders and grab them.”
Takumi’s gaze idly slid over to where everyone had parked their cars. The Todo School Hondas, the Takahashis’ RX-7s, his Impreza, Fumihiro’s MR2 along with Matsumoto’s and Tomiguchi’s cars were all parked facing the road as if poised to attack the slope at any time.
Keisuke noticed Takumi’s gaze and followed it to the parked vehicles before grinning. Interrupting Ryosuke’s suggestion to pay the restaurant extra to deliver the food, he said, “Let’s all go down there. Last one there foots the bill,” he wisecracked, a glint in his eyes making itself known.
The group fell silent and any movement ceased as everyone considered the offer. A beat passed, marked by the choir of crickets making itself known from the bushes across the way. But Smiley tossing his empty bottle into the nearby trash can broke the calm. The group jumped into action, leaping out of their seats and checking for their keys before running to their respective cars. Surprisingly, even the “elders” in the group (as Ryosuke, Fumihiro, and Matsumoto were collectively referred to) entertained Keisuke’s notion and partook in the game. As Takumi sprinted toward the Impreza with Keisuke aiming at his FD, he didn’t miss the wide, childlike grins the elders wore as they all but lunged into their cars.
Takumi may have been somewhat shorter than most guys, but his lean frame offered him the advantage of nimbleness. He wasted no time in turning the Impreza’s engine over and peeling out of the lot with the Takahashi brothers’ RX-7s right on his tail. Just behind them was the Todo School gang with Tachi’s EK9 leading the two students’ Civic and Integra. But before Takumi could even consider the remaining three members, the first corner approached and jarred his consciousness back into the here and now. He cleared the sharp left turn with ease thanks to the single-handed steer (it really was convenient, wasn’t it?) and the turbocharger fluttered as he opened up the throttle before upshifting. The lights in his mirror vanished for all but a moment before manifesting once more, refusing to give up and fall behind. Takumi smiled to himself.
This was going to be a fun trip down the mountain.
