Standard Disclaimer: All characters belong to Shuichi Shigeno and Kodansha.

A/N: This fic has an unusual pairing. (Can you really call it a pairing, though, if the feelings of attraction are unrequited?) Warning: begins with a lime dream scene.

*~*~*~*

She stepped out of the shower and toweled herself dry, taking a moment to admire her nude reflection in the mirror before she picked up the bottle of raspberry-scented body mist, and liberally soused herself.

She then bent over and draped the towel over her head, rubbing her scalp vigorously, before straightening up and fluffing up her damp hair so it fell thick and full to her shoulders. She slipped into a fuchsia satin bra and panties-almost as an afterthought, for she wasn't planning to have them on very long. Grinning to herself at a job well done, she cloaked herself in the wet towel and opened the bathroom door.

"Are you ready yet?" called the deep voice from the bed, just a little bit impatient.

"I'm always ready," she purred, striding towards the bed like a queen, gazing down at his reclining form with appreciation. He was magnificent. All hard muscle and bronzed skin, glowing as if lit from within. His arms and legs were impossibly long and powerful, his chest broad and chiseled.

And all of it was hers alone.

"You girls take too long in the shower," he said, voice rumbling.

She chuckled. "Would you rather I didn't smell good?"

He sniffed, and his lips twisted in disgust. "Ugh. You smell like a damn fruit salad."

"But better that than smelling like something else, ne?"

She smiled happily as she knelt on the foot on the bed. Arching her back, she shrugged the wet towel off her shoulders and let it drop to the floor.

"I've wanted you from the minute I laid eyes on you," she said as she straddled him and placed her hands on his shoulders. "Every minute. Every hour. Every day," she continued as her hands squeezed and massaged. She moved on to the hard planes of his chest and smirked as his back arched, higher into her touch. She swept her thumb across one nipple and then the other, and he gasped. His arms sprung up and his hands flew to her sides.

Immediately she placed her hands in her lap. "Uh-uh, now what did I say? No touching," she admonished him, wagging her finger. She then slipped her fingertip in her mouth, popped it out and trailed the moistened digit along the curve of his lips.

"Damn you," he cursed.

"You need to be patient," she said wickedly, thrusting her chest towards him.

"Damn you…"

"Ssshhhh," she hissed, running her hands across his chest again, every glorious inch of it. With a soft chuckle she leaned down, and went over the same lines with her lips and tongue. She planted a line of wet, smacking kisses from his firm stomach all the way up his breastbone, up the muscular column of his neck…

Meanwhile, her hands slid lower, loving his thighs and his kneecaps, her soft kisses turning to sucks and nibbles. She nipped the skin at the juncture of his neck and shoulder, and he gasped. Man, he tasted good. She wanted to eat him alive. Her hands circled teasingly around his lower body, touching every place except where he wanted it most.

He was now heaving, taking in breaths like a desperate man, and she raised her head to look at him. His strong face was the very picture of need and longing, flushed red, beads of sweat forming on his hairline. She smiled again and promptly set about tormenting him a little more…

He'd decided it was the last straw, for his right hand clamped down on her left hand in an iron grip, and she found herself dragged beyond the point of resistance, forced to let him go, forced to face him.

"All right," he growled, "enough with the teasing." And his mouth claimed hers in a bruising kiss, stifling any protest she may have made.

Which didn't matter to her, for victory reigned in her heart. He's mine. I've got him.

At the same time she affirmed her control of him in her mind, she was also surrendering it. She slumped liquidly against him as his lips and tongue dominated hers, then moved to burn a path down her neck and lower. She heard ripping sounds as she felt him take her underwear completely off. Then, almost before she could think, he grasped her by the hips and in one swift motion, pulled her onto him. She moaned and convulsed, sent nearly headlong into sensory overload.

She was sent there entirely as he began to move, his fingers gripping her almost painfully. She threw back her head, groaning helplessly at the powerful sensations rolling through her body. His nails dug into her upper thighs, his entire body tensed for one excruciating moment… before he shuddered and let a most animal-like roar burst from him.

He's mine, he's mine, he's all mine, was her last thought, before she was scalded by a flood of heat deep within her belly. She leaned backwards, grasping both ankles as she opened her mouth wide and shouted her release toward the ceiling.

Alarm bells went off in the very next instant.

What is that? Is that the fire alarm? she thought, turning her head...

…and as she blinked, suddenly he was gone, and she was lying in bed, the alarm clock blaring on the nightstand.

"Aaarrggghh. Turn it off!" Sayuki grumbled as she twisted onto her side, made a long arm and jabbed her finger into the snooze button.

She rolled onto her back and sighed with exasperation. But then she became conscious of the tingle between her legs, of her sweaty scalp, of shivering as she drew the blanket across her breasts…

It was as if he had, for once, actually been here.

Sayuki knew better, that she'd only been dreaming about him again. But this had been, hands down, the best dream of him thus far.

Which meant that she had better start making some real progress, or she was going to pay. Probably with her sanity. She'd already gotten Mako's displeasure… She shook her head. She didn't need to think about that. Poor Mako had missed out. She'd never been so dizzy with lust that she'd walked right into a street sign. She just didn't understand.

At least the alarm hadn't gone off too soon this time.

"He's going to be at Akina tonight," she said to herself. "Wait for him. After the race is over, make your move!"

Finally, Sayuki rolled out of bed and padded to the bathroom. After she washed her face, she reached for her raspberry-scented body mist, and a decidedly less exciting white cotton bra. But she had a mischievous twinkle in her eye as she put it on.

*~*~*~*

"Oh yeah. I squashed that twerp Nakazato like a bug," boasted Iwaki Seiji to his fellow Emperors over a smoke. "On his own mountain too!" He gestured to the cut-in-half Night Kids sticker on his Evo IV. "He thought he was hot shit, hiding behind that GT-R of his. But I showed him."

"Iwaki!" barked a voice.

"Yes?" Seiji turned to face his team leader, who was looking even grimmer than usual.

"Now is not the time to get cocky," said Sudou Kyouichi. "You wanted to do this, and I changed my mind about you doing this, so you'd better come through. You'd better not embarrass yourself and the team by allowing a hachiroku to beat you."

"What about Takahashi?"

"Takahashi is mine," said Kyouichi, glaring at Seiji. "No one else can touch him. Concentrate on the battle. And remember what I told you."

Seiji looked confused for a minute, then perked up as if answering his own question. "Plan three, right?"

"Plan three. And do not forget." Kyouichi said the last words with a trace of menace. He reached over, snatched a cigarette out of Seiji's pack, placed it between his lips, and lit it.

The Emperor leader walked off alone, toward his teammates' cars lined up in the parking lot. Not a single car lacked for a cut-in-half team sticker… and almost all of them had been second- or even third-stringers. Gunma had nearly been conquered. Except for the Akina hachiroku… and Takahashi Ryousuke. Ryousuke would be a tough challenge, but Kyouichi was ready for him. Just a few more days' practice on Akagi…

Just then, a flash of electric blue whizzed by. Kyouichi frowned, squinting down the road at the departing car. A SilEighty… Yes, indeed, it was them, those dratted girls from Usui. Were they really here to rematch? According to the accounts of Satake and Nogami, the girls had been none too thrilled to be beaten-in fact, the lead driver had been downright furious. Therefore, revenge was not totally out of the question… But they are not familiar with Akina. To attempt a rematch in strange territory… If they do that, they're stupid!

"Fuck," he said to himself, taking a long drag on his nicked cigarette. "I've had it with all these distractions. I'm not battling them too. No way."

*~*~*~*

"Kyo--!"

Seiji reeled as he touched the reddening mark on his face.

"But I apologize!"

His team leader's expression darkened even more.

"Look, I never got a chance to figure him out. But I almost did, damn it!"

"How can you figure anything out by staring in your rearview mirror?" Kyouichi demanded. "I told you, plan three. Stay behind him so you can spot his weakness. But I guess my plan's not good enough for the great Iwaki Seiji, is it?"

He turned away from Seiji before continuing, "But what's done is done now. You think about that. That is, if you think at all. You're like the monkeys around here-you don't use your brain." He walked away, back turned on his teammates in a way that clearly said, 'Leave me the hell alone', and headed toward his parked Evo III.

Kyouichi lit another cigarette-from his own pack this time-- and took an enormous drag. He felt the smoke seeping into his lungs and his throat burning, and at length he coughed. What he really needed was a drink. A stiff drink. Unfortunately, there wasn't enough alcohol in the world to make Seiji's idiocy bearable.

He threw the cigarette on the ground, crushed it under his foot and climbed into the car. Time to forget about Seiji's failure, and to start preparing for Takahashi and his FC. There just wasn't time to suffer fools. He drove on, away from Akina, until he found a bar by the side of the road. It was very crowded, and had some completely tone-deaf moron belting out karaoke songs, but it would do.

Sitting down with a beer bottle and a pitcher of warm sake in front of him, he poured himself a shot of the hard liquor and quaffed it in one go. Then he washed it down with some beer. He wondered how long it would take to get completely drunk. His alcohol tolerance was somewhat less when he was angry, after all.

After a few moments he became conscious of a woman standing close to him. A little too close. He was already a little tipsy, but he wasn't about to have his space invaded by this pesky waitress.

"Hey-" he said, before the words choked in his throat. It was not a waitress.

It was somebody far more exasperating.

A girl with an extremely disingenuous look, and way of carrying herself. A girl in a too tight blouse, and a too short skirt, and… stiletto heels?! Kyouichi quickly glanced downward. No, they were just regular sandals. Thank God. He didn't need that overkill. She was already too damn obvious, smiling and sashaying to the seat right next to him.

"What the hell…" he finished from his throat.

"What the hell?" repeated the girl, pouting.

"I don't even know who you are, lady."

"Oh come on now. Don't you remember? Didn't you see us? We were watching your teammate race the Eight-Six too."

"You're from Usui…" Kyouichi blurted out the words before he was fully conscious of them.

Sayuki then sat up straighter. "You got that right. And it's about time somebody put that Neanderthal in his place."

Kyouichi downed another glass of sake. "Look, if you two are here for a rematch, you're pretty stupid. Satake-Satake-already beat you. A fool who can barely tell turbo from fairy dust. He took care of you, and your mountain."

Her eyes flashed, and lips twitched. He had hit a nerve, and Kyouichi knew it.

"That so-called race was a big joke. That thug of yours is a cheater. That race doesn't count in Impact Blue's book."

"It does in ours," said Kyouichi, smiling, satisfied that he'd taken her down a peg. "You were just another item to cross off our list. So you'd better not be asking for a rematch." He took another swig of beer, waiting for her expression of defeat.

But to his shock, she smiled more flirtatiously than before.

"Sudou-san… that's your name, right?" she said, running a hand through her hair, letting it drape over her chest. "When did I say anything about a rematch?"

"Then what are you doing here?"

"Oh?" She leaned back slightly.

That one word made Kyouichi's suspicions-and foreboding-completely confirmed. "Oh, what?"

"Don't you know?"

"No, and I don't care. Go home."

Sayuki now took on a look that was downright hostile. "All right, so I was too coy. I'll spell it out for you. I know you don't have a girlfriend, Sudou-san, and it's high time you got yourself one."

Kyouichi snorted with amusement. "So that's it, then? I suspected as much. Is that why you're calling me Sudou-san? Please. Spare me." He turned abruptly away from her."

"I'm not through with you!" said Sayuki with a curiously authoritative voice. "At least do me the honor of talking to me."

"I've talked to you enough. Now, beat it. Go back to your mountain. We've beaten you. It's over." And with that, Kyouichi got up from the bar stool and made long strides for the door.

And found, when he reached his car, that he couldn't open the door. His keys had mysteriously gone missing. He plunged his hand in his left pants pocket, then his right pants pocket, then both jacket pockets, and finally the breast pocket of his T-shirt.

He walked back into the bar and scanned his seating place. No keys there either… and no girl. Suspicion built in his gut… and in his ears as he heard the distinct tinkling sound.

There she stood, in another inappropriately flirtatious pose, smiling and waving his car keys at him.

"What the fuck?!" he spat.

"You won't get them back until you sit down and talk to me," said Sayuki as she turned tail and milled through the crowd. "You can't drink and drive anyway!"

Kyouichi's blood boiled. He was the leader of Team Emperor… he was not some sap who had to chase down a girl through a public place to get his car keys back! But then… what could he do?

"Little bitch!" he thought as he stood and fumed for a few seconds. Then he calmed himself. He was the leader of Emperor. He did have the dignity to not make an ass of himself. Forget chasing the girl-he could bloody well stay here all night if he had to. And with that thought, he slunk back to his bar stool and ordered another pitcher of sake. He could get drunk off his ass tonight, and be able to wait until he was sobered up to drive again. The bartender might even have some of those hangover pills.

He sat for many long moments, sipping drinks, swallowing the bartender's pills and puffing quietly on cigarettes, willing himself into peacefulness in the midst of the jabbering customers. Even when he heard her shrill voice call out, "You know, this is really getting annoying!"

Kyouichi's feeling of satisfaction grew at making her lose her cool.

"Are you listening to me?!" she said, voice even shriller.

"No." Kyouichi took a long, contented drag on his cigarette and closed his eyes.

"Obviously," said Sayuki as she marched up to him, brandishing his car keys. The Evo driver cracked open his eyes to find her standing less than an arm's length in front of him. "All right. I'll give you your keys. Then I'll go away. Fine?"

"Fine," said Kyouichi, sitting back.

He heard a clinking sound as she reached into her pocket for the keys, extending her arm slowly forward… And then, with the speed of a lightning flash, he felt her hand grasp his, and lips on his cheek.

The bartender, who had been watching the whole time, let out a cheering whoop.

The cigarette dropped from the Evo driver's mouth. "Fuck!" he spat as he twisted to the side, shaking off the glowing butt before it could burn a hole in his shirt. And then… he felt lips again. This time, square on his mouth.

"All right!" hollered the bartender.

For a moment, Kyouichi froze in shock, his eyes wide open. Her eyes were closed, her long eyelashes curving over her cheeks… but then her eyes flew open, too… and stared into his, equally shocked from the looks of it.

It didn't take another second for the Evo driver to come to his senses. Jerking backwards, he grabbed the keys in her hand and pulled them away. Jumping up from the bar stool, he turned on her.

"I'm not interested," he said, with finality. "Go home. And you," he pointed to the bartender, "shut up." He strode towards the door for the last time, tuning out the wretched rendition of 'Karma Chameleon', as he pulled open the door… and nearly walked straight into another woman, who had opened the door at the exact same time.

"What are you doing here?" she said. It was the other Usui girl… the one with darker hair (and much more tasteful dress). "Sayuki!" she said as she caught sight of her co-driver. "I've been looking all over for you!"

Kyouichi brushed past her and headed straight for his Evo. He still had to wait to drive until he was sober, so he thought he might as well take a nap. It was rather hot and stuffy in the car, though. As he bent back his seat and rolled down his window, he saw both girls come out of the bar, the dark-haired one in the middle of giving her friend a good tongue-lashing.

"How did you get here anyway?"

"I got a ride with Fujiwara."

"You asked Fujiwara to go out of his way to bring you here?"

"Yes!"

"I told you not to go throwing yourself at that guy!" berated Mako as she fairly dragged Sayuki into the SilEighty. The bright blue car then started, and rocketed away with an ear-piercing squeal of tires.

Kyouichi lay back, thinking Thank God that's over.

However, more comforting thoughts were not to come to him. Seiji had still put a serious dent in Emperor's plans through his own stupidity. Now he, himself, would have to step up and show this hachiroku kid what Emperor was capable of. He'd have to postpone the treat to his ego, his race with Ryousuke, in order to save face… Tomorrow night. That would be when he'd make his challenge.

His lips seemed to be itching, and reflexively, he reached up to touch them… and much to his surprise, they still tingled from the memory of the Usui girl's kiss.

*~*~*~*

"I can't believe you sometimes," said Mako as she pushed the accelerator hard, weaving the SilEighty through a truck and two cars up Akina's pass. "My God, I thought you were bad about the Takahashi brothers. I told you, this is not good for our reputation. I work so hard to present myself as a serious racer, and look at you, making a boy-crazy fool of yourself!" She huffed and jammed the accelerator again as she cleared the next curve.

Sayuki said nothing. For she had made some progress. She had actually stolen a kiss from the man she was in lust with. And she had gotten a rise out of him. Who knows where it might lead? Mako, I've got to find a way to fix you and Ryousuke up. Then, maybe, you'll understand why I'm doing this.

THE END

This fic was inspired by a song, "Man O' War" by Total Coelo. The chorus, Man o' war, what are you fighting for/ Tell me why you're holding out for more/ Man o' war, what are you gonna do/'Cause I'm the one for you, made me think of Sayuki out for a conquest… and Kyouichi may have been her most difficult yet.

Sorry, Sayuki. He's already involved with Ryousuke. But I admire your determination.

--MonteLukast