#initialdsecretsanta

Of all the things he had to be into, Toru had to have a hobby that constantly drains his wallet. At least that's what his girlfriend would always tell him. She basically was his main sponsor, not by choice. He'd always feel that pang of regret every time he would ask her to fund gas, tires, or car parts.

Not to mention what had just happened the past spring. Nao had given him an ultimatum: if he lost the race, he would have to quit racing. Unfortunately, he was set up for failure from the start. His opponent was Takumi Fujiwara, the ever-growing-famous young prodigy from Gunma and the downhill racer of Project D. At the time, Toru didn't realize the anomaly he was up against. It was just another racer to him, so all he had to do was win the race to prove to Nao that her time and money was worth something.

Toru did not just lose that race. In the heat of the battle, his last-ditch effort to catch up to the Trueno in front of him resulted in his Miata becoming stuck in the gutter, then flipping over. He luckily landed right-side up, but when he examined the car afterward, his second thought was how much the body shop and alignment were going to cost him.

His first thought being Nao. What was she going to tell him if she found out he'd flipped the car? What if he didn't make it out alive? What if she'd lost her boyfriend to the very thing she was trying to get him away from?

He could lie to her. He didn't even have to mention the flipping part, right? Just that he'd crashed? No, that couldn't work. She'd freak out even if she found out he'd crashed at all. And she would ABSOLUTELY find out. The body damage was too much to hide. His alignment made the car crabwalk. He'd just have to sit there and take whatever she had to say to him.

And so that night he limped his banged-up little Miata home and went straight to bed.

Toru didn't race at all for months after that. Not because he'd lost, like Nao had told him he'd have to quit, but because his car was out of commission and he didn't have the money to get it back into a running state. He just rode his scooter around for work and would come home every day to see his car staring at him, begging to be healed. He could see the pain in its headlights.

He made a vow to himself. No matter how tempted he may be, he would not ask Nao for any money to fix the car. Not like she would give him any anyway. She berated him with scolding, tears, and hugs when she'd seen his car outside in its sorry shape.

Toru knew that his girlfriend loved the little roadster. She may not be a big fan of him racing it, but she made it very clear time and time again she thought the car was cute. They would go for rides with the hardtop removed and Nao would always ask him to make the headlights do the "funny flippy thing" as they drove past people. So naturally she was hurt when she saw what had happened to the little red creature. But she made it clear to him that she didn't want him racing it after it got fixed.

Yet another winter season had finally arrived. Toru had been slowly piecing his Miata back together, one part at a time, to the point where it didn't look quite as depressing. Every month or so he'd been able to get a replacement part for what he'd lost to the 86. He'd been able to replace most of his suspension components, headlights, and mirror, but the body still looked like someone had bashed his car in with a baseball bat. Toru held on to a little hope that for Christmas, Nao would be gracious enough to give him the amount he needed to take the Miata to the body shop.

Maybe it wouldn't be so bad if he didn't race the car. What if he just drove it for fun, to show it off? Then he wouldn't risk wrecking it even worse than he already had, let alone injuring or killing himself. As much as it hurt his heart to even think of the idea, Toru decided it was probably best if he quit racing. He would tell Nao on Christmas.

Christmas Eve came along, bringing a sizeable snowstorm with it. It made going anywhere virtually impossible, especially on a scooter. Something about that snow was quite soothing though, the way everything seems to be quieter under a blanket of white.

Toru had forgotten to cover the Miata after working on it yet again the night before. He scolded himself thinking about water leaking into the interior. He went outside to brush the snow off the roof to somewhat minimize the damage.

When he got in front of the car, he thought it looked kind of silly. Its puppy dog eye-looking headlights stared at him with a goofy face like it was wearing the snow as a hat. He'd noticed something else poking out from under the snow on the hood. He got closer to examine it, and found a little red bow hiding beneath the snow. Did Nao put this here? Very funny. It was reassuring that she showed that she still cares about it.

"Toru!"

He looked behind him and saw Nao carrying what seemed like a Christmas present, gleefully speed-walking towards him.

"What's that for? Is that why you were out all day?"

"Gift for you. Let's go inside and you can open it!"

Oh shit, I forgot to wrap her gift! Toru said nothing, then ran inside. Nao followed behind and excitedly set the box down by the small Christmas tree that was set up in their home.

"Come on, you gotta open it!"

"Can I just get something real quick?"

"OPEN IT NOOOOW!"

Toru knew he was not going to win that argument. He sat down next to the tree and picked up the box. The wrapping paper was dotted with images of various sports cars with Christmas trees strapped to their roofs. It almost felt like a sin to tear it apart. Nao was practically hovering over him as he picked at the wrapping paper.

He reached his hand inside the box, felt something soft, and pulled something red out. It wasn't the only thing in the box.

"Did you get me two Miata plushies?" Toru grabbed the fuzzy little red blobs and held them up facing him, two automotive goobers staring into his eyes.

"They're slippers! See?" Nao grabbed one of the little plush Miatas and put her hand inside the opening of the slipper.

"How did you find these?" Toru was somewhat surprised she didn't just get them for herself.

"Lucky find, I guess. Once I saw them I just had to get 'em. Do you like them?"

"They're... really cute actually. Wait, I have something for you too," Toru briskly walked into another room and came back with a small cardboard box. "Sorry, I didn't have time to wrap it. At least it got to you anyway."

Nao gently took the lid off the little box. Nothing could have prepared her for what was inside.

Miata earrings.

Before she could even say anything, Toru interrupted.

"I'm sorry, I know you're not a fan of me racing, but you seem to still like the car. I couldn't pass these up. I hope you don't see this as me trying to bribe you into letting me race again. Because... I've decided. I'm going to quit street racing. I've been thinking too much about what more could have happened when I crashed last spring. I'm lucky I wasn't hurt at all, let alone killed. So I've made up my mind. I don't want to scare you anymore."

"Toru, you really don't have to, it's such a passion of yours! I do worry about you, but I don't want to take away your passion," Nao looked up from the little earrings, "You're not gonna get rid of the car, right?"

"Hell no, we can still enjoy the car. We'll get it fixed, all nice looking, and we can go cruising in it again. Maybe I'll start doing autocross or something safer to satisfy that racing itch," Toru reassured.

Nao picked up each earring and held them by her ears, "If you say so, I know how much you love racing. But I would rather not have to worry about you not coming home every night you go out. Also, these are so CUTE!" She seemed to be getting ever more distracted by the tiny acrylic Miatas, "I'll try my best to support you whatever you decide to do. But if you EVER think of getting rid of that car..."

"I won't. Don't worry. Merry Christmas, Nao," Toru went in to hug his girlfriend.