A bright blue RX-8 was parked in the mountains. The driver, Akemi Chitose was waiting inside her car.
All around her, there was just empty darkness. There weren't even any street lights that lit the way in this snake-like road.
*ROAR*
Along with a deafening roar another car parked alongside Chitose's car.
*THUD*
"Sup, babe! I hope I haven't made you wait long enough" said a cocky young man as he stepped out of his Red Ford F150 Raptor.
Chitose didn't like the man but for a proper race, they needed at least four participants and even if she didn't like him. This boy was one of them.
"Nakamura Hanzo, when will you learn to keep your mouth shut?"
Another person commented on Hanzo's attitude as he got out of his car, a Green Lexus IS300.
"Isayama Kenjiro! How dare you show yourself before me!"
Seeing Kenjiro get out of his car casually, blood rushed into Hanzo's head!
Kenjiro was the man that was responsible for his brother's death.
"You can come here, so why can't I?" Kenjiro wasn't offended by Hanzo's attitude. It was something he was used to by now.
*GRAB*
Seeing him without an ounce of guilt on his face, Hanzo couldn't hold himself back and grabbed him by the collar!
"You! I-"
However, before he could even do anything Chitose got out of her car and separated the two.
"Stop! Don't you want to know the reason why I called you here?"
Chitose asked as she kept Hanzo away from Kenjiro. Hearing this question Hanzo was also intrigued. When Chitose first called her here, he had thought it was for some romantic night cruise but seeing Kenjiro here his opinion had started to change... unless she was planning a three way?
"You better have a convincing reason otherwise I will be leaving soon. I don't want to breathe the same air as this thrash"
If looks could kill, Kenjiro would have already been killed by Hanzo a thousand times over.
"It's because you two were the only ones in the blacklist that qualified"
Upon the mention of the word blacklist Hanzo frowned.
"That childish thing? You called us here for such a childish reason? Grow up! No one cares about blacklist anymore. It's been more than a decade since it was last relevant in our community"
Despite Hanzo's mocking Chitose wasn't disturbed. She slowly explained the reason.
"There is! There is still one person who holds the blacklist in high regard. It's DK Spectre!"
This time even Kenjiro looked baffled and couldn't help but chime in.
"You know that Drift King is named Youchiro Nambu and not Spectre right? Whoever spoke to you must have been a scammer. Damn! Such a waste of time! And here I thought I could have a fun time racing after such a long time"
Kenjiro was about to enter his car and leave when he was stopped by Chitose's words.
"You are wrong! DK Spectre was the Drift King of 2 generations ago but after getting the title he quit racing. According to the traditions he is the official holder of the title and he will keep being so till the day he dies or loses a title race. I managed to dig up his whereabouts and convinced him to hold one right here!"
"So you are telling me, in order to get my hands on the title, I just need to win against some old geezer?"
The one that asked this question was Kenjiro. He seemed excited at the prospect of being the Drift King himself. He raced a couple of times against Nambu but the coward never accepted any title matches unless it was mandatory. And even in such races, he would rig the race itself so there was no way to get the title from him unless Nambu himself got bored of racing and decided to quit. It was because of a b*stard like him that people were losing interest in the DK title.
"Technically he is not a geezer but yes, if you can win against him today, in this race, you will be the official DK," Chitose confirmed her words again.
The part she left out was the fact that Kenjiro could forget about being the DK as she was going to be the final winner today. After all, she needed to. If not for her circumstances Spectre wouldn't even have agreed to race her as he had quit. Still he promised to race against her one last time and this was the only chance he was ever going to give her. Even if she lost today, she can not appear in front of him according to their deal.
"If, and I mean If what you are saying is true, where is he? Why didn't he show up yet?" Hanzo asked sceptically.
"Wait let me call and check it" Chitose quickly went back to her RX-8 and picked up her phone to call Spectre.
After a couple of minutes, she awkwardly hung up the phone.
"What did he say?"
"Well, the race will start 3 minutes from now on at exactly 10 pm. He said that it will start from here and finish at the skirts of the Hakone mountain. According to his words, even at top speed, it would take us at least an hour to reach there so..."
Hanzo frowned seeing how Chitose was fumbling over her words.
"So what?"
"So, he is giving us a fifteen-minute head start.... to make things fair..."
"Disregarding his insults for a second there, how do we not know that he is already waiting at the finish line and just messing with us?" Kenjiro became as sceptical as Hanzo over this.
"He said that you would recognize him when he overtakes you... anyway we should take our places inside our cars"
To escape their scrutinizing eyes Chitose decided to escape to her car. She hated the position Spectre put her in. Couldn't he be a respectful person and just show up on time? Also what was that weird excuse about how he was on delivery and that he was giving them a fifteen-minute head start because of that? He didn't need to look down on them so much.
Following Chitose, Kenjiro and Hanzo looked at each other and got into their cars as well and lined up side by side.
The trio started their cars and waited for the countdown
*ROAR*
"3!"
Chitose put her car in gear.
"2!"
Hanzo checked his rear mirror.
"1!"
Kenjiro floored the gas pedal!
*ROAR* *ROAR* *ROAR*
The mountain shook with the echoes of three strong engines!
The race started with strong, passionate feelings but this was a race of patience. It didn't mean that just because you were going the fastest you would be the first to reach the finish line.
As she swerved along the road, Chitose was carefully watching ahead. She was currently in the first but this didn't mean it was a good thing. In fact it could even be said to be a very bad thing for her.
This was a race of endurance. They had to drive in total darkness except for their headlights for at least an hour. This meant that the person driving first was under too much pressure. If she missed even one turn in this complicated road, she would find herself rolling down a cliff!
It had been almost ten minutes since they started this death race and Chitose's nerves were getting strained. It wasn't easy to stay one hundred per cent focused this late at night. At every turn, she was having a small heart attack.
Just when they were coming to a new sharp turn Hanzo finally made his move!
*SCREECH*
With smoke coming out of his tyres he passed Chitose in one fell swoop, leaving her aghast.
She should have been happy that there was someone else out there willing to take the lead and give her time to relax her nerves but there was too much at stake in this race. It was her only chance. If she couldn't win, everything she had done until this point would be for nothing!
*ROAR*
With a roar of her engine, RX-8 started to gain speed, trying to overtake the Red Ford F150. However, Hanzo was not giving her space enough to overtake him.
The mountain road was too narrow, not to mention the fact that there were countless unexpected turns. So she couldn't pass his car.
As they drifted along the mountain road the three cars were in sync, as if they had practised it before, the cars would start to slide and stop at the same time. With Hanzo in the lead, they were faster than when Chitose was leading.
Currently, Hanzo was in the lead with Chitose second and Kenjiro following in third. There was only about half an hour of the journey left.
Time had started to take its toll on Hanzo's nerves. He was starting to make mistakes. If his mistakes keep piling up, he would eventually make an accident.
This was a chance!
*ROAR*
With a swift motion, Kenjiro downshifted and his Lexus started to roar like a beast that was being strangled alive. Using the momentum he gained, the green Lexus overtake the two cars and got into the lead.
Chitose was finally the last.
NO!
She couldn't accept this. She couldn't be the last person to finish the race. This was supposed to be her stage to shine. She couldn't let her legacy down! That title should be belonging to her!
Keep calm. There is still time. If she let impatience get the better of her she would have no chance to win the race.
Ten minutes were left.
Kenjiro still seemed to be holding just fine. Hanzo was not giving her any chance to overtake him either. She knew that she couldn't be impatient but if she didn't make a move soon she might not get another opportunity later on.
A CHANCE!
Seeing Kenjiro slow down for a turn, Chitose sped up. She was either going to make this drift and overtake them both or she would die. She would have no regrets either way.
*SCREECH*
As the tyres left their mark on the ground Chitose's blue RX-8 overtook both of them.
Finally!
She would finally achieve her lifelong goa-
*HOOOOOOONK*
Chitose's pink dream was shattered by the sound of an oncoming lorry!
"AHHHHHH!!!"
In her panic, Chitose tried to brake but that made her car lose control and she was heading straight for the collision.
*CRASH*
Suddenly, Hanzo's car hit the back of Chitose's Mazda pushing her out of the way but putting himself in danger of rolling down the cliff.
*WHOOSH* *THUD*
As Hanzo closed his eyes for his inevitable fate his car shook for a moment but he eventually noticed that he didn't feel like he was flying in the air.
When he looked, he saw a Black Nissan Skyline supporting his car from the side, stopping him from falling off the cliff. How did this little toothpick of a car stopped his monstrous F150 from rolling over. Most importantly...
Who?
As Hanzo, who prepared himself to die, finally regained control of his car. The Black Nissan turned off its headlights and slowed down, getting shrouded in obscurity. Hanzo couldn't see any sign of it anywhere.
WTF!?
They were already having a hard time driving with their minimal vision but there was a lunatic here that was driving without any lights!?
How?
Before he could even react Hanzo felt something rush past him. When he turned towards the direction there was only a pair of red demonic eyes looking at him which scared the sh*t out of him!
This guy had a bad sense of humour considering how he painted the back of his car like the face of a demon, complementing it with his red tail lights.
Soon the red eyes disappeared as well. Hanzo knew there was a car overtaking Kenjiro right now for the first place but he couldn't even see it in this darkness. Probably not even Kenjiro himself was aware of it.
The last stretch.
Chitose and Kenjiro were going head to head!
Without her suspecting anything Kenjiro slowed his car down a notch. He wanted the title as well but he was not an idiot. This girl wanted it enough to kill herself over it. He didn't know why she risked her life that much but he didn't want to be the boulder that was blocking her road. I mean, he could still take the title off of her hands when she achieved her purpose. Kenjiro had this much trust in his skills!
*WHOOSH*
Suddenly a black Nissan Skyline passed both of the cars! Crossing the finish line first.
The cars soon stopped.
From Skyline a handsome man in his late twenties stepped out.
"With this, our deal is over Akemi-san. I assume you won't be bothering me anymore, yes?" asked Spectre.
"I... I lost? How?" Chitose started mumbling to herself. Her world crumbled around her.
Kenjiro and Hanzo were also speechless but for a different reason than Chitose. When they had heard that Spectre was the DK from two generations ago they had thought he would be an old geezer by now but he was almost the same age as them... he might even be a few years younger. So did that make themselves geezers as well?
Wait! That was not the point!
If he is in his late twenties, did that mean he dominated the whole scene when he was just a high schooler!? It can't be when he was a middle schooler... right?
Seeing the surprise on their faces Tsukito laughed to himself.
*BA-DUMP* *BA-DUMP* *BA-DUMP*
Listening to his heart that was beating furiously, he noticed how much he missed this feeling. How much he missed racing while putting his life on the line. Unfortunately, he couldn't race anymore.
"You lost? I don't remember you losing. In fact, I seem to be remembering how Akemi-san's car overtake the Green Lexus and came in first. Am I right gentlemen?"
The duo nodded their heads. They did not know what was going on but once they return back home they would definitely dig up this man known as Spectre. They also had no problem with letting Chitose win since that was their intention as well.
"But.. Why?" Chitose asked Tsukito. She wanted to know why he would beat her first and then act like she was the winner.
"Well, I made a promise in the past so I can never in good conscience throw a race. But that doesn't mean I can't manipulate the results. As long as the gentlemen here agree to announce the said results I wouldn't challenge it. Secondly, I have already quit racing anyway. Speaking of, I am already behind on my deliveries, so see ya never I guess" said Tsukito as he got back inside his car and sped off, leaving behind a confused Chitose.
So this was Ikehara Tsukito, the man known as Spectre who took the racing world by storm almost a decade ago.